NMRC Research Training Fellowship (RTF)

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Objective

The NMRC Research Training Fellowship (RTF) is awarded to outstanding and talented clinicians and health science / healthcare professionals for research training to have qualifications and skills to become clinician scientists/innovators.

As the RTF is a talent pipeline programme, priority will be given to talent who are at a relatively early stage of their research career.

Eligibility Criteria

Qualifications

• Medical/Dental applicants should hold medical qualifications (e.g. MBBS, MD, BDS or equivalent), and registered with the Singapore Medical Council/Dental Board. Residents who wish to pursue research training in the midst of their clinical training will be required to submit additional documents. Medical/House officers are not eligible to apply.
• Healthcare professionals with non-medical qualifications, such as nurses, pharmacists, optometrists and other allied health professions listed on this website and hold PhD (or equivalent) are eligible to apply. Those without PhD (or equivalent) may apply for formal postgraduate training.​

Appointment

• Applicant must hold a primary appointment in a public healthcare institution (PHI) or autonomous university in Singapore and be salaried by the institutionⁱ at the point of application. Applicant must remain employed in a public institution in Singapore during and throughout duration of the award.
• Applicant will also be required to serve a bond with the Government of Singapore upon the completion of training.

Other Requirements

• Applicant must be a Singapore citizen or Permanent Resident at the point of application.
• Applicant is only allowed up to 2 resubmissions following an unsuccessful first submission.

Notes:

A*STAR CS scholar from the National Science Scholarship (NSS) (MBBS-PhD) or NSS (MD-PhD) schemes and fulfil the following may apply:

1. hold a primary appointment in a PHI or autonomous university in Singapore; or
2. hold a primary appointment in A*STAR and a joint appointment in the PHI/autonomous university, and the grant application is supported by the PHI/autonomous university. The PHI/autonomous university is to consider if the applicant is able to demonstrate that he/she can act as a bridge between A*STAR and the healthcare system.

The grant application must be submitted through the PHI/autonomous university as the host institution.

Types of Award

Applicants may apply for (i) local/overseas formal research training or (ii) local/overseas research attachment. 

Please note that applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for local training where available and that overseas training will be awarded only to very exceptional applicants with strong justifications.

For overseas training, applicants are required to provide compelling justifications for proposing overseas training over local training (if there are equivalent or similar local courses/expertise) and the potential positive impact of the training.

As different types of courses or research training may have different enrolment dates, applicants are advised to check the registration and acceptance timeline of the proposed research training and cater sufficient time for the RTF application and review process (of at least 5 months) to avoid delay in the submission of the application and commencement of training. Retrospective start date of training is subject to panel’s approval.

Funding Details

1. Local/Overseas Formal Research Training

           Components of this award include:

• Local: Award value of up to S$550K per awardee for up to 3 years (extendable to 4 years for PhD degree). Clinicians pursuing overseas full-time PhD training may request for up to S$800k.
• Overseas: Award value of up to S$330K per awardee for up to 3 years. Clinicians pursuing overseas PhD training may request for up to S$550K (part-time) or S$880k (full-time) for up to 4 years.
• Salary support in accordance to the MOH HMDP terms and NMRC's Annual Salary Cap based on clinical grade
  
• • For full-time training, the awardee can be allowed up to two clinical sessions (8 hours) per week to maintain clinical competence where necessary based on institution's arrangements
  • For part-time training, the awardee may request for salary support for the time required for research training only. The host institution is to provide salary for the remaining time (i.e. clinical duties).
• Maintenance allowance and others (e.g. return air travel, health insurance) in accordance to the MOH HMDP terms and institution's existing guidelines for awardees pursuing overseas training.
• Tuition or course fees charged by the training institution
• Overseas conference support of up to $6K per year in accordance with MOH HMDP terms and institution's guidelines. Allowable only if the awardee is a speaker or presenting a poster at the conference on a topic relevant to the research project under the award. Overseas conference-related expenses e.g. air travel and maintenance allowance should be budgeted under "Overseas Travel (OT)" vote in RGP.
• Eligibility to apply for a research seed funding of up to $30K for duration of 2 years (subject to NMRC's prevailing eligibility criteria and approval)  via RGP upon completion of training.

2. Local/Overseas Research Attachment

          Components of this award include:

• Award value of up to S$550K per awardee of up to 2 years.
• Overseas: Award value of up to S$330K per awardee for up to 2 years. Institutions are encouraged to co-fund the overseas training if required.
• Salary support in accordance to the MOH HMDP terms and NMRC's Annual Salary Cap
  
• Maintenance allowance and others (e.g. return air travel, health insurance) in accordance to the institution's guidelines for awardees going on overseas training.
• Overseas conference support of up to $6K per year in accordance with MOH HMDP terms and institution’s guidelines. Allowable only if the awardee is a speaker or presenting a poster at the conference on a topic relevant to the research project under the award. Overseas conference-related expenses e.g. air travel and maintenance allowance should be budgeted under “Overseas Travel (OT)” vote in RGP.
• Eligibility to apply for a research seed funding of up to $30K for duration of 2 years (subject to NMRC’s prevailing eligibility criteria and approval) via RGP upon completion of training.

For more information, please visit NMRC's website here.

Submission

All applications must be submitted and endorsed by the Host Institution's Research Director online via Research Grants Portal (RGP).

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 Hiu Ai Ping

Email: aiping.hiu@mohh.com.sg

Ms Grace Lim

Email: grace.lim.jia.yi@mohh.com.sg

Additional Information

• Please find more information of RTF from NMRC's website here.
• Please download the Application package.