ASTAR Joint Council Visiting Investigatorship Programme

Introduction

The A*STAR JCO Visiting Investigatorship Programme (VIP) aims to strengthen interdisciplinary research in A*STAR by tapping on world renowned experts as Visiting Investigators (VIs) to develop capabilities and groom local talent in key strategic areas identified as capability gaps by the Research Institutes (RIs). The VIP grant funds up to a total of S$ 5 Million over 3 years.

To be considered for this funding, the proposal must present clear multidisciplinary research content encompassing biomedical sciences (BMS) and the physical sciences & engineering (S&E) disciplines  with good balance of technical and scientific contributions from all participating entities.

The identified VI should be a world renowned expert who is willing to spend about 8 weeks in Singapore per year to allow for effective transfer of capabilities. The VI should be established in an area that A*STAR and the RIs want to develop capabilities in and the research should be integrated back into A*STAR after completion of the programme.

As the aim of the programme is to build up the core capabilities of the RIs, it is critical that the VI candidate is championed by the RIs themselves. RIs are to take the lead to identify and engage potential candidates for the programme. VIs may also be surfaced by A*STAR for the RIs’ consideration. The VIP should ideally be hosted within an A*STAR RI and involve close collaboration with BMRC and SERC RIs so as to ensure effective transfer of capabilities and training of manpower. In addition, a local A*STAR researcher should be appointed as lead to run the VI lab sincethe VI is not fully based in Singapore)

Application for the VIP is open throughout the year.

Eligibility

The VI must be a renowned scientist in the selected field identified and be able to integrate BMS and S&E capabilities and must spend about 8 weeks a year in A*STAR during the grant period.

There shall be one (1) Programme Manager (PM) who is a full-time employee of a RI / Consortia to manage the programme in the absence of the VI. The PM is one of the A*STAR Lead Investigators (LIs) and the Institution which the PM is from shall be the Host Institution for the VIP.

The VI and PM will be primarily held responsible for the milestones and deliverables of the VIP, and will work with the project team comprising other Local Investigators from the Host Institution and participating entities across BMRC and SERC research institutes.

Application Procedure

Application for the JCO VIP grants is open to all A*STAR RIs all year round. The JCO VIP grant is formally open for applications starting from 1st April 2011.

For further information on application procedure, please visit the following:
https://ku.a-star.edu.sg/JCO/STInitiativesGrants/VisitingInvestigatorshipProgrammeVIP.aspx
(Link is only accessible via A*STAR's intranet or VPN connection.)

Contact Information

Queries on the JCO VIP Grant can be directed to:

Mr Foong Huei Tai
Senior Officer, JCO
E-mail: Foong_Huei_Tai@a-star.edu.sg
DID: 6826 6252

Or

A-STAR_JCO@a-star.edu.sg

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