NMRC Open Fund Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG)

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Objective

The NMRC Open Fund Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG) aims to bring together the best teams from public institutions to advance human health and wellness, as well as create economic value for Singapore and Singaporeans, through the pursuit of excellence in research and its applications.

The purpose of the OF-LCG scheme is to support patient-centric translational research, supplemented with basic and/or applied research. The scheme will not support pure basic science, pure clinical or pure applied research.

The grant call will be open for applications once a year.

RIE2025 OF-LCG Grant Call Schedule

NMRC has informed that this is the last OF-LCG grant call planned under the RIE2025 and would like to highlight again that only 4 grant calls were planned for the RIE2025 OF-LCG, i.e. the June 2021, May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024 grant calls, in view of the constraints with the RIE2025 fund commitment and cashflow period.

Funding Details

• Tier 1: Funding quantum of up to $10M per project (inclusive of 30% indirect costs) up to 5 years

• Tier 2: Funding quantum of up to $25M per project (inclusive of 30% indirect costs) up to 5 years

Definitions

Overview: The research programme should comprise no more than 5 research themes, each led by one or more Theme Principal Investigators (PIs). All the Theme PIs should form the Leadership Team, and one of the Theme PIs should be nominated as the Corresponding PI.

Leadership Team: Comprises all Theme PIs. The leadership team share the responsibility in making the OF-LCG programme a success and is essential for implementing programme strategies and achieving desired outcomes.

Corresponding PI: The Theme PI who will coordinate the OF-LCG programme, serve as the main point of contact between NMRC and the OF-LCG Leadership Team, and is accountable to NMRC for the proper conduct of the whole programme. He/ She will work closely with the Theme PIs to resolve any issues which arise during the course of the programme, including the usage of funding, any variations to the scope of the programme etc. Limited to only 1 Corresponding PI per leadership team.

Theme PI: Theme PIs have the responsibility to direct each specific research theme being supported by the grant, and accountable for the proper conduct of the specific research theme. There is no limit on the no. of Theme PIs per theme but a cap of 5 themes applies. An individual can be a Theme PI for multiple themes.

Eligibility Criteria

Only one Corresponding PI is allowed per application. There is no cap placed on the number of Theme PIs per theme. An individual can be a theme PI for more than one theme. However, a cap of five research themes applies per application.

The Corresponding PI and Theme PIs are required to fulfil the following criteria at the point of application:

1. Holds a primary appointment in a local publicly funded institution and salaried by the institution.
2. Should have PhD or MD/MBBS/BDS qualifications (exceptions would be made on a case-by-case basis).
3. Is an independent investigator (with PI status in institution) 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), substantial publication record in the past 3 years.
4. Has a laboratory or clinical research program that carries out research in Singapore
5. Holds a minimum of 9 months employment (per calendar year) with local Singapore institution(s). Upon award, the PI must agree to fulfil at least 6 months of residency in Singapore for each calendar year over the duration of the grant award.
6. Has no outstanding reports from previous BMRC, NMRC grants, and other national grants.
7. For proposals involving patients, the PI should be SMC registered; or should be able to demonstrate ability to access patients through SMC registered Co-Is or collaborators.

Submission

All applications must be submitted and endorsed by the Host Institution's Director of Research (DOR) online via IGMS (internet accessible link).

Note: SingHealth PIs are to please refer to your respective Institutional Research Administrators for guidance on internal deadlines and submission procedures set by your institutions.

Contact Person

Ms Peh Kah Yim

Email: kahyim.peh@mohh.com.sg

Additional Information

Please refer to the NMRC’s website and download the application templates here (internet accessible link).