MINISTRY OF HEALTH HEALTHCARE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS
[For Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents Only]

The MOH Healthcare Research Scholarships are awarded to outstanding clinicians in their final year Basic Specialist Training, Advanced Specialist Training and Residency Training. Applicants should be working in the public healthcare institutions, and have desire to pursue a PhD in health and medical research.

A) Aim

To promote clinical and translational research in Singapore, the Research Scholarships aims to equip a select group of Medical Specialist Trainees and Residents with the academic qualifications and skills to pursue careers as Clinician Scientists through a structured yet flexible training route.

B) Types of Support for PhD Programmes

Research scholar may choose to pursue a full-time PhD degree either from a local or overseas institution.

i) Local PhD Programme

Eligibility

The NUS PhD scholarship is open to final year Basic Specialist Trainees, Advanced Specialist Trainees and Clinician Scientist(CS) track Residents who are Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents.

Components of Award:

• Salary and tuition fees for the full-time academic study of up to 4 years,
• Conference support of up to $4,000 per year during the PhD studies,
• Allowance of two clinical sessions (8 hours) per week to maintain clinical competence while in PhD programme,
• Protected time of 30% (12 hours) per week for research during the clinical training years,
• Eligibility to apply for a research seed funding upon completion of PhD Programme, of up to S$30,000 (subject to the approval of a research proposal)

Bond Duration

Awardees are required to sign a bond to serve the Government of Singapore, or in any institution as directed by the Government of Singapore, for a period of 5 years. Service towards the bond will commence on successful completion of the PhD programme and any remaining time spent in specialty training can also be counted as service towards the bond.

However, service towards the bond would be suspended during the period of training when the Research Scholars embark on any HMDP Fellowship attachments. Service towards the bond period will continue after their return from HMDP.

ii) Overseas PhD Programme

Eligibility:

The overseas PhD scholarship is open to final year Basic Specialist Trainees, Advanced Specialist Trainees and Clinician Scientiest (CS) track Residents who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents. It will only be awarded for areas in which our local institutions do not have the expertise in the area of research to provide the training.

Components of Award:

• Salary, tuition fees, maintenance allowance, return air tickets and insurance, for full-time academic study of up to 4 years
• Conference support of up to $4,000 per year during the PhD studies
• Allowance of two clinical sessions (8 hours) per week to maintain clinical competence while in PhD programme
• Protected time of 30% (12 hours) per week for research during the clinical training years
• Eligibility to apply for a research seed funding upon completion of PhD Programme, of up to S$30,000 (subject to the approval of a research proposal)
  

Bond Duration:

Awardees are required to sign a bond to serve the Government of Singapore, or in any institution as directed by the Government of Singapore, for a period of 7 years.  Service towards the bond will commence on successful completion of the PhD programme and any remaining time spent in specialty training can also be counted as service towards the bond.

However, service towards the bond would be suspended during the period of training when the Research Scholars embark on any HMDP Fellowship attachments. Service towards the bond period will continue after their return from HMDP.

C) Mentor/Supervisor

Awardees shall have a clinical mentor/supervisor and a research mentor/supervisor. The Head of Department / Programme Director will have oversight of each successful applicant's research training to ensure the success of the programme.

D) Overseas Exchange Programme

To enable awardees to widen their research exposure and facilitate networking with international institutions, they may undertake research work in renowned institutions overseas. This would be subject to approval and availability of funds.

E) Approval Procedures

All applications will be reviewed by the Scholarship Administration Panel which will provide recommendations to the SAB for final approval. During the review process that generally takes about 3 to 4 months, applicants may be called for interviews by the Scholarship Administration Panel.

F) Application Procedure

Specialist trainees and CS track Residents who are interested in applying for the MOH Healthcare Research Scholarships are required to submit the completed Application Form in soft and hard copies. Hard copy should be submitted through the Institution's Research Office, duly endorsed by the Institution's Head of Department and Institution's Director/CEO/Dean of Medical School. All applications should be submitted to :

National Medical Research Council
11 Biopolis Way, #09-10/11 Helios
Singapore 138667
Attention: Ms Gillian Neo / Ms Sharon Sim

Applications should reach NMRC by the following dates:

For August PhD intake - 13 December, 2pm
For January PhD intake - 14 June, 2pm

Please note that late and/or incomplete applications will not be entertained.

G) Enquiries

For further enquiries on this circular, please contact MOH_NMRC@MOH.GOV.SG

Applicants are advised to apply to the university of interest for their degree programme concurrently with this scholarship application to avoid delay in commencement of training.