Singapore Food Story Theme 2 Future Foods - 2nd Seed Grant Call

Call Opens: Monday, 5 September 2022
Submission Deadline: Friday, 14 October 2022, 1800hrs (SGT)

About the Grant

The Future Foods: 2nd Seed Grant Call aims to foster knowledge creation and catalyse early-stage innovations to strengthen the functionality and nutrition of Alternative Proteins products and enable diversification of raw materials and inputs for Alternative Proteins production. The projects should be targeted at Technological Readiness Levels (TRLs) of 1-3, and aim to address productization, prototyping and sustainability of production. Projects that demonstrate novelty and promising proof-of-concept, with high commercial potential will be encouraged to further develop their capabilities through subsequent grant schemes.

Eligibility

IHLs, public sector agencies and research laboratories in Singapore can qualify for up to 100% funding support of approved qualifying direct and indirect costs of a project. Support for indirect costs is allowed only to IHLs, public agencies and research institutes of up to 20% of the total qualifying direct costs. Otherwise, support for indirect costs is not allowable unless specifically justified and approved by the SFS Joint Programme Office based on the scope and projected outcomes of the research.

Companies and company-affiliated research entities do not qualify for funding but are encouraged to participate as collaborators with a local lead Principal Investigator.

Final funding support and amount will be at sole and exclusive discretion of the JPO based on the scope and projected outcomes of the research.

Proposal Requirements and Funding

Proposed projects should be up to 18 months (1.5 years) in duration. Each successful project may be granted up to SGD $500,000 (inclusive of 20% indirect costs), subject to the proposals corresponding budget request and project scope.

IHLs, public sector agencies and research laboratories in Singapore can qualify for up to 100% funding support of approved qualifying direct and indirect costs of a project. Support for indirect costs is allowed only to IHLs, public agencies and research institutes of up to 20% of the total qualifying direct costs. Otherwise, support for indirect costs is not allowable unless specifically justified and approved by the SFS Joint Programme Office based on the scope and projected outcomes of the research.

The funds from this grant call will be disbursed on a reimbursement basis. There will be no advancement of funds for the awarded projects.

PIs are strongly encouraged to collaborate with companies and garner cash/in-kind Industry Research Spending. Choice proposals should include Letters of Support / Letters of Intent with collaborating companies that indicate how the research technology will be translated in the areas of collaboration and to include the companies’ cash and/or in-kind estimations/projections.

In additional, proposals are strongly encouraged to clock the following KPIs:

No. of projects (collaborations) with local IHLs and organisations;
No. of international projects (collaborations); and
No. of industry projects.

Applicants shall comply with national regulations, A*STAR’s Grant Terms and Conditions and the National Research Fund Guide.

All R&D work must be conducted in Singapore, and all assets acquitted with the funding must be located in Singapore and maintained within the control of the Institutions.

Intellectual Property (IP) management: All researchers and research organizations shall follow and apply the National IP Protocol principles and framework.

Application Procedure

Applications shall be submitted via email to a-star_SFSRND@hq.a-star.edu.sg.

The Research Administrative Office from IHLs or the equivalent outfit in companies are responsible for ensuring that information submitted by their respective researchers are compiled according to the requirements set out in this grant call.

All proposals must be submitted by 14 October 2022 1800Hrs (SGT). All completed applications must be endorsed by the Director of Research or equivalent at the Host Institution for the Lead Principal Investigator. A complete application will consist of the project proposal and supporting documents submitted to the email above.

Late submissions, incomplete submissions, submissions via other avenues (e.g. walk-in), and submissions without proper endorsement will not be accepted.

Applicants may direct queries by email to a-star_SFSRND@hq.a-star.edu.sg if questions are not addressed in the FAQ section of the grant call.

Application Materials

2nd Seed Grant Call Information Sheet
2nd Seed Grant Call Proposal Template

Singapore Food Story Theme 2 Future Foods - 2nd Seed Grant Call

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