COLLABORATION MODELS
A*STAR engages the industry in R&D to drive innovation and advance technology that may be translated to products and services to yield economic benefit. There are different approaches to working with industry partners depending on the research needs and capability areas. The four main engagement models include:
Several public research performers engage with one partner to form long- term strategic collaborations. This approach aims to deliver impact for our partners through integration of scientific capabilities across multiple disciplines and research performers in Singapore. Sembcorp Marine and 8 A*STAR research institutes and programme have signed an agreement to jointly pursue innovation in Digital Design and Advanced Manufacturing with the aim to shorten the development cycle and time-to-market of new offshore, marine and clean energy solutions. Joint Lab@TBY will be setup to facilitate the test-bedding and commercialisation of new digital design solutions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and other Industry 4.0-related technologies.
We work with individual partners on projects in targeted research areas. These partnerships can take various forms, including working on single research projects to partnering up to form joint labs for a pipeline of projects. Applied Materials, a leader in materials engineering solutions, and A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (A*STAR IME) jointly set up a Centre of Excellence in Advanced Packaging in Singapore to solve challenges in advanced packaging and build new capabilities.
In the “One to Many” model, one RI brings together several companies to form a consortia around the RI’s core capabilities to collaborate on common research areas, typically in pre-competitive sectors. The A*STAR Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (A*STAR ARTC) is a contemporary platform that focuses on advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing, and has a membership consortium with over 80 members, ranging from MNCs to SMEs.
The consortia consist of multiple public institutions and companies. The goal is to create effective platforms for private and public sectors to collaborate on thematic research areas to enhance research capabilities. Pharma Innovation Programme Singapore (PIPS) brings together Singapore’s public sector research capabilities within A*STAR and the IHLs such as NUS, NTU and SIT, with key global players in the pharma industry to transform the manufacturing operations and technologies of the industry. Besides leading pharma companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), MSD International GmbH (Singapore Branch), Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and Syngenta Crop Protection AG (Syngenta), PIPS also engages extended members that include LLEs and SMEs.
Leverages the span of technical expertise at the SERC Research Institutes to help the local industry move up the value chain. Such programmes encompass direct basic and applied R&D across the SERC research institutes, and provide the conduit as well as opportunities for local companies to work with industry giants via research collaborations or membership programmes. Pre-competitive R&D is carried out in a consortium setting where members will benefit from the R&D of common platform technology challenges.
JOINT RESEARCH PROGRAMMESOne-to-one R&D collaborations between a private company with A*STAR research institutes (RIs) that help to enhance the technology edge of the company by the technology transfer from the RI.
For advancement of technology, cutting-edge platform technologies, for example, are critical to support biomedical research by both industry and academia. A*STAR research entities have partnered with leading industry players to increase access state-of-the-art technology to advance their research. Such a partnership can serve as a learning platform for industry to gain new insights from users in the research community, which may facilitate the advancement of their technology and the development of new protocols and techniques.
Examples include the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) – Nikon Imaging Centre, and the Clinical Imaging Research Centre – a joint venture between NUS and A*STAR with industry partner, Siemens.
The Lab-in-RI is an A*STAR initiative in which the research institutes provide partners with infrastructure and framework at an early stage of their R&D projects. For the partnering companies, this has the advantage of implementing their plans under favorable conditions, to allow the companies to jumpstart their R&D activities in Singapore before making major capital investments.
Enterprise works with industry and A*STAR research institutes to identify new technology areas early in the research value chain to develop application driven, multi-disciplinary projects and drive these with commercialization outcomes firmly in mind. In the hope of precipitating these projects into their next lap of marketable commercial applications, Enterprise provides gap funds to inject resources, like manpower and funds for further development and testing.
Gap funding for co-development is applicable for A*STAR technologies where:
- Potential licensees takes up A*STAR technologies
- These technologies still require further research and/or development efforts for them to be commercial ready
- Potential licensees are willing to collaborate with Enterprise and the research institutes in co-development efforts
To find out more, email: Enterprise_Tech-Offer@hq.a-star.edu.sg.
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