About

The Clinician-Scientist Individual Research Grant (CS-IRG) is provided to Clinician Scientists (CS) to enable them to carry out medical research on a specifically defined topic for a period of 3 years in local public institutions.All CS-IRG applications will be evaluated through a two stage process with an international peer review stage followed by a Local Review Panel (LRP).

Eligibility:

Each CS-IRG application must be led by a Clinical Principal Investigator (PI) who has to fulfill the eligibility criteria listed below. Only one PI is allowed per application. The number of applications by an individual (as PI) is capped at 1 grant application per grant type in a grant call.  

PI must be clinically qualified (i.e. with MD/MBBS/BDS) and preferably with post-graduate clinical training and experience.  Exceptions are given to Allied Health Professionals who fall within the list of professions in Table 1 below. The PI must possess a minimum academic qualification of a PhD or the equivalent training.

For proposals involving patients, the clinical PI or co-I should be SMC registered; or should be able to demonstrate ability to access patients through SMC registered collaborators. For some IRG proposals it is recognized that some studies may be pre-clinical and not require the PI to be SMC registered.

Additional eligibility criteria include:

1. Hold a primary appointment in a local public hospital/public health institutions/national specialty centre/public universities/Academic Medical Centres and salaried by the institution.
2. Be an independent PI with a demonstrated track record of research as evidenced by the award of nationally competitive funding (international funding to be considered on a case by case basis) or substantial publication record.
3. Have a laboratory or clinical research program that carries out research in Singapore.
4. Hold a minimum of 9 months employment with a local Singapore institution. Upon award, the PI must agree to fulfill at least 6 months of residency in Singapore for each calendar year over the duration of the grant award.
5. No outstanding reports from previous BMRC, NMRC grants and other national grants. 

Funding Quantum:

The CS-IRG will provide a funding quantum of up to S$1.5M per project for 3 years with up to additional 20% indirect costs provided to the host institution of the PI.

Grant Call Frequency:

There will be two grant calls per year (May and November).

Research Themes:

The CS-IRG is open to application on all research themes. However, there will be strategic consideration for applications which focus on the following priority areas:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Neurological and sense disorders
• Infectious diseases
• Diabetes mellitus and other metabolic/ endocrine disorders
• Cancers

Submission:

It is mandatory for all applications to be submitted and endorsed by the Host Institution's Director of Research (DOR) online via IGMS by 16 December 2020, 5pm. We will not entertain any late submissions or submissions from individual applicants without endorsement from the Host Institution.

Please download the CSIRG Guide and Application Form for more information.