A
STAR-NKTH Joint Grant Call
A*STAR and the Hungary National Office for Research and Technology (NKTH) agreed to conduct joint grant calls for proposals under the A*STAR – NKTH Master Collaboration Agreement signed on 9 October 2007.
The goal of the call for proposals is to promote R&D collaboration between Hungarian-based public and private institutes and Singapore public sector research organizations including A*STAR RIs, through joint scientific projects.
A*STAR and NKTH have held 2 joint calls for proposals (one in 2008 and 2009) to date. For 2010, joint proposals in the following areas are invited to be submitted:
A. Systems Biology; and
B. Communication Systems.
Further details can be found below.
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of experts that will help identify proposals that are innovative, demonstrate a high level of scientific pursuit, challenge paradigms and set international benchmarks.
Eligibility
Each research team must be made up of at least one Singapore-based researcher and one Hungary-based researcher. The research project, which can last up to 3 years, must be conducted in Singapore and in Hungary. A*STAR will fund the research costs of the Singapore-based researcher, while NKTH will fund the research costs of the Hungary-based researcher. The total value of a combined grant award will typically be in the range of S$440,000 to S$1,100,000 (approximately €200,000 to €500,000).
Application
Singapore-based researchers should apply to A*STAR and Hungary-based researchers should separately apply to NKTH.
Application forms for Singapore-based researchers are available here:
Closing Date
Completed softcopy forms saved in a labeled compact disc (CD) and hardcopy submissions with signatures must be submitted through the Directors’ Office, Office of Research, or equivalent, to the Programme Officer by 15 July 2010, 5:00pm SST, to the following address:
A*STAR-NKTH Joint Grant Call 2010
Agency for Science, Technology & Research
Address: 20 Biopolis Way, #08-01 Centros,
Singapore 138668
Details of Call Areas
Systems Biology
Systems are said to be complex if they have properties and behaviours that can only be understood by analyzing how the components of the system interact. Properties of complex systems are said to 'emerge' from the interactions of the system's components.
In the biological realm, complexity reigns at many different scales, from the cooperative and competitive interactions of proteins and DNA, to the development of a mature organism from an embryo, to the behaviour of entire ecosystems.
Systems Biology encompasses a broad spectrum of computational and experimental methods. A unifying goal is to generate and visualize large amounts of data and to use that data to model biological processes. The hope is that biological properties can be understood through a systems approach in a way that is not possible using analyses that focus on a much smaller number of components.
Areas of research could cover molecular and cellular biology focused on the physical and/or genetic interactions of many different components of the system obtained in a high-throughput manner. Systems of interest could include stem cells, early development, cancer, control of the cell cycle, and the interactions of macromolecules.
Communication Systems
Communication Systems research pioneer new systems and communication needs of the future, by identifying and developing core technologies, and integrating them to form total system solutions to solve communication problems. Technologies are examined from the viewpoint of potential applications, and systems defined to put solutions in place.
System engineering concepts are also introduced in the execution of complex projects, striving for modularity, scalability and reusability. This defines methodologies and architectures which enable it to achieve optimum solutions, integrating new research outputs with past results.
Other foci are real time software and embedded system design and development, to translate research outputs to functional prototypes.
Areas of research could include development of communication systems; provision of architectural design, embedded systems and real time software design at the systems level; and relevant end user applications.
Application is now closed and all submissions are currently under review.