New Zealand-Singapore Biotech in Future Foods Research Programme

About the Grant

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand are launching a second Call for Proposals (‘the Call’) for the New Zealand-Singapore Bilateral Research Programme on Future Foods. The Call will focus on the following priority areas:

  • Smart and Sustainable Processes
  • Health and Nutrition

OBJECTIVES

Research projects shall leverage the complementary research capabilities in Singapore and New Zealand to drive transformative advancements in the future food industry of both nations, through the development of biotechnology innovations that translate to health and economic impact.

Successful projects shall (in no particular order): 

  • Lead to research translation of project deliverables into the future food industry, which may include IP licensing or spin-offs
  • Develop technologies that enable scalable and sustainable production of future foods
  • Deliver impact in human health and longevity through improvements in next-generation future food ingredients
  • Deepen research collaborations between Singapore and New Zealand scientists with complementary research capabilities in future foods R&D
  • Grow the future food industries of both countries through novel biotechnology innovations and expanded market access

FUNDING

New Zealand and Singapore applicants must jointly develop a single proposal that will be submitted to MBIE and A*STAR via email. New Zealand project teams may apply for up to NZ$3 million (excluding GST) of funding from MBIE (through the Catalyst Fund) over three years, and Singapore project teams may apply for up to S$1.25 million (including overheads of 30%) from A*STAR over the same period. 

PRIORITIES

Proposed projects shall develop technologies at intermediate Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of 3-5 towards translational outcomes that address current challenges in the future food industry in Singapore and New Zealand. Some of these challenge statements were discussed in the July 2024 scoping workshop. Please refer to the workshop summary slides for more details.

Proposed projects must identify and address challenges in the research areas of “Health and Nutrition” or “Smart and Sustainable Processes”. Examples of challenge statements of interest include (but are not limited to):


  1. Smart and Sustainable Processes
  • Developing scalable food processing technologies to enhance taste, texture and nutritional quality in future food products
  • Developing techniques for high-throughput optimization of food manufacturing / precision fermentation bioprocesses
  • Optimising food processing technologies towards net-zero carbon and waste

2. Health and Nutrition

  • Understanding the health impact of extended consumption of future foods
  • Developing functional foods with enhanced nutritional properties that improve health span
  • Understanding the gut-brain-immune axis and its implications for population health 

To encourage comprehensive proposals with higher translation potential, projects that include applied consumer insights (e.g. connecting local consumer preferences to regionalize future food development) and food matrix studies (e.g. impact of ingredient interactions on taste, texture and nutritional value of future foods) will be prioritized.

Proposals must describe the expected industry impact, including details of follow-on plans for translation and commercialization of project deliverables (e.g. IP licensing, spin-offs, etc.). Collaborations with industry partners interested in the co-development and / or commercialization of project IP are highly desirable (though not mandatory). Proposals should exhibit significant novelty, strong industry demand, immediate translation potential and a viable business model. Proposals must demonstrate excellent, high-impact research in areas of relevance and importance to Singapore’s and New Zealand’s economic, societal, or environmental wellbeing.

Innovations in advanced technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence (AI), bioprocessing, genetic engineering) that are well-positioned for industrial-scale applications are highly desirable. Proposals should identify expected regulatory hurdles that may influence its industry translation outcomes and potential ways to overcome them.

Eligibility

This Call is for joint submissions that involve at least one New Zealand-based Principal Investigator (PI) and one Singapore-based PI. 

New Zealand PIs must be employed by a New Zealand-based research organisation. Applications are open to both public and private New Zealand-based research organisations. However, proposals will be assessed against their public benefits and private organisations should clearly indicate how their proposal will benefit New Zealand.

Singapore PIs must hold a primary appointment of at least 75% in a Singapore-based publicly funded institution and salaried by the institution. Eligible Singapore-based public sector research performers include the Institutes of Higher Learning (including universities and polytechnics), A*STAR Research Institutes, and non-defence related public sector agencies (e.g., Ministries, Statutory Boards). The Singapore project team and research activities may include self-funded industry contributions and partnerships.

Proposals submitted for this Call must meet the eligibility criteria on page 8 of the grant call guidelines document.

Grant Call Timeline

EventDate
Grant Call Opens2 December 2024
Information Session for Grant Call
9 December 2024
Closing date for proposals28 February 2025 12 PM (SG Time) / 5 PM (NZ Time)
Assessment of proposalsMarch-April 2025
Selection of proposals and awardingMay-June 2025
Projects beginJuly 2025

Application Procedure

Proposals must be submitted via email to A*STAR (with MBIE in CC) before 5 PM New Zealand Daylight Time (12 PM Singapore Standard Time) on 28 February 2025, using the proposal template provided on the websites for this Call. The proposal must be submitted in Word or PDF format. In the email submission:

  • Attach the joint application form and all required supporting documentation. Incomplete applications will not be considered for further evaluation.
  • Please title your email as: “Proposal Submission for New Zealand-Singapore Biotech in Future Foods Research Programme – ([NZ PI Last Name], [SG PI Last Name])”.
  • Please rename your joint application form file using the following format: NZ-SG2025 [Last Name of New Zealand PI]_[Last Name of Singapore PI]_Joint Application Form.
  • Please rename your attachments to include a prefix identifying your project team, following this format: NZ-SG2025 [Last Name of New Zealand PI]_[Last Name of Singapore PI].
  • Only one email should be submitted for each proposal application. In the event that multiple emails are received for a proposal, only the latest valid submission will be processed.
  • The email should be sent by lead PI of either New Zealand or Singapore, while keeping the lead PI of the other country in CC. The two email addresses will be treated as the main points of contact for the New Zealand and Singapore research teams for the proposal.
  • Please submit CVs (in PDF format) for all New Zealand and Singapore Principal Investigators in your application. Each CV should be no longer than 4 pages.
  • Address the submission email to A*STAR (A-STAR_FNCC@hq.a-star.edu.sg), and keep MBIE in CC (internationalscience@mbie.govt.nz).

Information Session

We will be hosting a virtual information session, and applicants who wish to apply for funding are encouraged to attend to gain more insights into the application details and timeline.

Date:9 December 2024
Time:9:30 am - 11:30 am Singapore Time (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm New Zealand Time)
Mode:Virtual on Zoom (link will be sent to you upon registration)
Registration:Click here

PROCESS OVERVIEW

The application process consists of four stages:

  1. Proposal: New Zealand and Singapore applicants will jointly develop their full proposal and submit it to A*STAR (with MBIE in CC) via email before the stipulated deadline.
  2. Assessment: Proposals will be assessed by a panel of independent expert assessors jointly convened by MBIE and A*STAR. The assessors will evaluate the proposals based on the assessment criteria on pages 14-15 of the grant call guidelines document.
  3. Selection: The assessment scores and feedback will be consolidated and submitted to a joint MBIE-A*STAR committee, which will select which proposals to fund based on the assessor evaluations and portfolio balance. MBIE and A*STAR will notify applicants of the funding decisions once the selection process is complete. Individual feedback will be available on request. 
  4. Contracting: MBIE will use the standard General Funding Contract with the successful New Zealand applicants’ research organisation (subject to any pre-contractual conditions being met). This Funding Contract will contain information from the request for funds and will be sent to the applicant organisation’s designated Contract Administrator. A*STAR will enter into a separate contract with the Singapore applicants’ organisation through its standard contracting process.

Application Materials

FOR ENQUIRIES

Please direct further queries to:

More information can be found on MBIE's website for this Call