INTRODUCTION
Human capital is Singapore's most valuable resource. With persistently low birth rates, an ageing population and a declining workforce, a national priority for Singapore to optimise each individual's potential from young and throughout life.
There are many opportunities to optimise Human Potential throughout the entire life course, but interventions' nature and relative impact are likely to differ at various stages. There are three (3) strategic focus areas in which the HP programme is centered around:
- Prenatal and early childhood focusing on improving child's physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development and maternal health and well-being to optimise developmental outcomes and set the right trajectory for an individual's life course.
- Function and performance during peri-pubertal, adolescence and adulthood with a focus on Science of Learning (SoL) to improve learning outcomes and upskilling of workers; and
- Healthy and meaningful longevity detects and prevents or delays physical and cognitive decline and transforms the ageing experience.
This FY23 grant call is the 3rd under the A*STAR Human Potential Programme Office’s Early Life focus, concerning ‘Prenatal and early childhood’, within the life course from preconception, pregnancy to early childhood (-1 to 6-year-old). A large body of evidence has demonstrated that early life development is critical in realising an individual's full developmental potential. The early years are crucial for rapid brain development with the greatest plasticity and capacity for change and physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and motor development. Interventions at this critical window of early life can most successfully safeguard and optimise life course trajectories compared with interventions in adulthood.
THEMATIC AREAS
Young Investigator Research Category (YIRG) and Investigator Research Category (IRG)
1. Child health, learning and well-being
- Child nutrition, obesity and other conditions
- Cognitive & Intellectual Development
- Socio-Emotional Development and Mental Wellness
2. Maternal health and well-being
- Metabolic Health
- Mental Wellness
Collaborative Proof-Of-Concept Category1. Early Childhood Development
- Address one or more of the Early Childhood Development Authority (ECDA)’s problem statements.
2. Child Socio-emotional development and maternal mental wellness
- Propose a research topic in the area of child and/or maternal socio-emotional development and mental wellness.
Please refer to the
FY23 PEC Briefing Information Deck and the
FY23 PEC Grant Call Information Sheet for more details on the areas of interest and problem statements.
GRANT CALL QUANTUM
Grant Call Categories | Young Investigator Research Category (YIRG) | Investigator Research Category (IRG) | Collaborative POC Category |
Grant Funding Quantum per award | From $300k - $500k* | From $500k - $1.5M* | Up to $5M* |
Funding Duration | Three years | Three years | Up to four years |
Funding Mode | Reimbursement |
*Funding amount inclusive of 30% indirect cost. Total funding may be subject to budget scrubbing and recommendations from the panel.
OVERALL CRITERIA
Research proposals should have clear vision towards and potential for translational impact to address important gaps in national policy and practice in health, education and social services. Grant call will prioritize applications in areas that provide evidence for innovation in policy/practice/service in early childhood development and maternal outcomes.
Applicants are encouraged where possible to leverage existing HBMS, Social Science and SoL research capabilities in the proposals to strengthen utility and impact. Applicants are also encouraged to partner relevant public or private sectors to facilitate downstream translation or deployment (if applicable).
Call for proposals has a two-stage process. Lead PI must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), and only shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Interested applicants will be required to submit the essential documents via an offline submission via email to the HP PO (HPPO@hq.a-star.edu.sg) by 21 Aug 2023, 23:59 hrs. Late submissions or submissions from individual applicants without endorsement from the Host Institution will not be accepted.
The Research Administrative Office from IHLs or Research Entities are required to ensure information submitted by their researchers for the grant call are compiled according to the requirements set out. Incomplete submissions will be rejected.
The following documents are required for the
LOI submission.
No. | Attachment | Naming Convention |
1 | Letter of Intent as per LOI ppt template | Lead PI's name_LOI_Project title |
2 | Curriculum Vitae | Lead PI's name_CV_Project title |
3 | International Peer Reviewers | Lead PI's name_IPR_Project title |
4 | Endorsement from Host Institution | Lead PI’s name_Endorsed_Project title |
For general enquiries, please refer to “PEC23_Prenatal_Early Childhood Grant Call Information Sheet - APPENDIX 2 – Frequently Asked Questions”.
If you require further clarification, you may reach us at HPPO@hq.a-star.edu.sg
Please allow up to three (3) working days for us to provide a response.