5th Singapore-Germany International Collaboration on “Integrated Carbon Management through Biological and Hybrid Pathways”

Against the backdrop of globalization and the Singapore government’s efforts to help companies stay competitive through innovation and technology adoption, this cooperation framework aims to incentivize Singapore-based companies to undertake open innovation partnership and provide an additional avenue for them to internationalize.

This joint grant call by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt, BMFTR) serves to catalyze collaborative research between the two countries to advance integrated carbon management solutions. The programme focuses on leveraging biological systems and hybrid (bio–electro–chemical) approaches to capture, convert, and recycle carbon emissions into value-added products. By combining expertise across biotechnology, electrochemistry, materials science, and systems engineering, the call aims to accelerate the transition towards a circular carbon economy that is scalable, resource-efficient, and deployable in real-world environments. Ideally, the research results should lead to new products, processes, procedures or services - or at least point the way to them. 

The grant call is both competitive and multi-disciplinary in nature and is aimed at encouraging engagements between the Singapore and German research communities and industry collaborators. Projects should also aim to achieve a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of between 5 and 7 upon completion. The call is structured around two complementary pillars that address both the conversion of carbon streams and the sustainable sourcing of carbon feedstocks: 

• Pillar 1: Biological and Hybrid Conversion of CO2 and C1 Carbon Streams 
• Pillar 2: Sustainable Sourcing and Recycling of Carbon Feedstocks

Please refer to the Grant Call Guidelines document for more information. 

This Call for Proposals is a joint submission that involves at least one Singapore-based and one Germany-based public sector research performer, with possible partnerships with one Singapore-based and/or one Germany-based industry collaborator highly encouraged. Eligible Singapore-based public sector research performers include the Institutes of Higher Learning (e.g. universities and polytechnics), A*STAR Research Institutes, and non-defense-related public sector agencies (e.g., Ministries, Statutory Boards). 

Where industry collaborator(s) is/are involved, companies will be assessed on their contribution towards the quantitative and qualitative merits of the proposed project. The two companies (where applicable) participating in the proposal must be separate entities. One of the companies should not be the Singapore/German office of the other participating company (i.e., Singapore company is the branch company or subsidiary of the German company and vice versa). 

Each eligible institute must follow the application quota below: 

• no more than 7 applications each from NUS, NTU and A*STAR
• no more than 1 application each from all other institutes, research/healthcare groups

Applications must be endorsed by the Host Institution’s Research Director or equivalent prior to submission.

The indicative timeline of the grant call activities is as follows:

• Guidelines for the 5th Singapore-Germany Bilateral Grant Call
• Application Form for the 5th Singapore-Germany Bilateral Grant Call
• Budget, Milestones and KPIs Template
• A*STAR Terms and Conditions 2020
• A*STAR Guidelines 2020
• Milestone & Benchmark Setting Guidelines

A*STAR (Singapore)
E-Mail: oga_bilats@a-star.edu.sg

DLR-PT on behalf of BMFTR (Germany)
Dr. Ludwig Kammesheidt 
E-Mail: Ludwig.Kammesheidt@dlr.de