PREPARE Vaccines & Therapeutics Co-Operative Strategic Pilot Open Grant Call

Background

The Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and REsponse (PREPARE) is a national programme set up by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to support and strengthen Singapore's key research capabilities, translational platforms, and expertise to develop tools, methods and products that can be tapped on to detect, respond to, and contain future infectious disease threats. The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) serves as the administrative host of PREPARE.

PREPARE is funded by RIE2020 White Space[1] under the Human Health and Potential (HHP) domain[2] and supports five co-operative programmes that focus on bringing researchers and clinicians together across institutions to enable expedited and more efficient translation and productisation. The strategic grant calls administered by PREPARE are designed to align to Singapore's strategic plans to support epidemic preparedness and response.

The key objectives of the PREPARE Vaccines & Therapeutics (V&T) Co-operative Programme are to build local expertise and capabilities to enhance our resilience in vaccines and therapeutics against infectious threats, and to establish a pipeline from discovery to clinical development for seamless and fast-tracked development of vaccine and therapeutic clinical candidates.

¹ Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 is the sixth science and technology plan for Singapore. Source: https://go.gov.sg/rie-2025-handbook . Accessed on 23 Oct 2024.

² Human Health and Potential domain will build on existing HBMS capabilities and incorporate a new emphasis on furthering human potential. Source: https://go.gov.sg/rie-2025-handbook . Accessed on 23 Oct 2024.

Grant focus areas

The 2025 V&T Co-Operative Programme Strategic Pilot Open Grant Call will support grant proposals in the following areas:

• Identification of broadly protective vaccine candidates against pathogens of zoonotic/outbreak potential from the paramyxovirus, coronavirus and influenza families.
  

• Development of broadly protective monoclonal antibodies targeting pathogens of zoonotic/outbreak potential from the paramyxovirus, coronavirus and influenza families.
  

• Development of broadly protective drugs or drug combinations against pathogens of zoonotic/outbreak potential from the paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses and influenza families.
  

• Development of host-targeting therapeutic approaches to mitigate disease severity during infection with pathogens of zoonotic/outbreak potential from the paramyxovirus, coronavirus and influenza families.
  
  The pilot study should have concrete Go/NoGo checkpoints. The applicant is expected to clearly outline their future plans based on the outcomes of this study.

Funding Details

Funding quantum of up to S$500K (incl. 30% IRC) for 18 months maximum.

Eligbility Criteria

1. The Research team (PI and at least one Co-I) must comprise researchers from at least two independent local research "institutions". Under this Pilot Open Grant Call, the following are considered as independent "institutions": Duke-NUS Medical School, each A*STAR research institute (RI), each Faculty / School at Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL), each NUSMed Translational Research Programme (TRP).

Note: Co-Investigators need to hold at least an adjunct position in a local public institution. Researchers from overseas institutions or private companies can only participate as collaborators.

2. Only one Principal Investigator (PI) is allowed per application.

3. Applicant applying as PI is required to fulfil the following criteria at the point of application:

• Holds a primary appointment in a local publicly funded institution and salaried by the institution.

• Should have PhD or MD/MBBS/BDS qualifications. (Exceptions would be made on a case-by-case basis).

• 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.

• Has a laboratory or clinical research program that carries out research in Singapore.

• 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.

• Has no outstanding report from previous BMRC, NMRC grants, and other national grants.

• For proposal 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

1. Interested applicants must complete the '[Final] PREPARE V&T Open Grant Call Application Form' Word file. Maximum of 6 pages (includes Specific Aims & Hypothesis; Background & Clinical Significance; Preliminary Studies/Progress report; Methods/Approach; Future plans; IP position; Roles of Team Members. Excludes abstract and references). No Annex allowed. Use Arial font size 10 for all text and figures through the application form.

2. Please submit the following through your Host Institution's Research Office to the PREPARE Grant Secretariat at PREPARE_Grants@ncid.sg by 28 March 2025 (Friday), 5pm.

• 1 endorsed '[Final] PREPARE V&T Open Grant Call Application Form' in PDF (with signatures, including all pictures, tables, charts and various attachments) and

• 1 softcopy '[Final] PREPARE V&T Open Grant Call Application Form' in WORD format (without signatures, including all pictures, tables, charts and various attachments)

3. Endorsements from respective Head of Department (HOD) and Host Institution's Research Director (or equivalent) are required prior to submission. This is to ensure that there is organisational support for the PI to participate in the grant call.

4. The PREPARE Grant secretariat will not accept late or incomplete submissions from individual applicants without endorsements from Reporting Officer (RO) / Head of Department (HOD) and Designated Division Endorsers. The following will be rejected:

• Incomplete applications e.g. missing documents such as CVs, missing signatures, sections left blank, etc.

• Outdated and incorrect application form templates.

Note:

• Each applicant can only submit one application, and the application must list all the people and groups involved in the project.

• All claims will be processed strictly on reimbursement basis and are subjected to the prevailing NCID finance policies and may be modified by the management. However, all grantees will be notified if there are changes to the finance policies.

• 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

PREPARE Grant Secretariat

Email: PREPARE_Grants@ncid.sg

Additional Information

Please refer to the attached files or visit the website here for more information.

PREPARE VT Open Grant Call Application Form.docx

PREPARE VT Open Grant Call guidelines.pdf 

PREPARE Grants Terms and Conditions(Jul 2023).pdf