Grant Call on Cognition - Closed

The Grant Call on Cognition is the second of the grant calls under the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing. This grant call under the research thrust on “lengthening health span” has two objectives. First, we aim to improve cognitive functioning and delay the onset of dementia in older adults. Second, we aim to provide quality and cost-effective care for seniors with dementia in the community.

There are two challenge statements for the Grant Call on Cognition. Participants forming Project Teams can submit more than one application and the Grant Proposal should be in response to any of the challenge statements. However, only one Project from a particular Project Team will be awarded with the Grant.
 

The first challenge is targeted at delaying the onset of dementia or cognitive decline in the population.Projects should look into formulating a scaleable preventive intervention programme that can be used safely to improve cognitive functioning or delay the onset of cognitive decline in seniors.Project Teams must demonstrate the methodology to be used in measuring and achieving the desired outcome

OR

The second challenge is targeted at caring for seniors who have been diagnosed with dementia or cognitive impairment.Projects should look into innovating a new model of care in caring for seniors with high cognitive impairment or dementia effectively in the community as an alternative to institutionalization in a nursing home.Project Teams must demonstrate that the care model is scalable and is not much more expensive than nursing home care.

Eligibility

The Grant Call on Cognition is open to all public and private healthcare providers, research institutes and institutes of higher learning (IHLs), registered and/or incorporated in Singapore. Interested participants may form Project Teams comprising:

Members/Investigators from multi-disciplinary (e.g. pairing medical and technology, engineering) background and/or involving cross-institutions; and An implementation partner (e.g. service providers, community organisations) should be part of the Project Team. Possible providers can be found on the website, https://www.silverpages.sg.

For detailed participating criteria and instructions, please refer to the Grant Call on Cognition Public Document and Grant Call on Cognition Public Document Annex A.

Project Phases

Funding will be provided in phases and subjected to the successful attainment of milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tied to each phase, as described in the table below:

	Design Phase	Development Phase	Implementation Phase
	Proof-of-Concept	Proof-of-Value	Test-bedding
Description	To articulate the concept of the programme / service / prototype and the process by which to achieve stated outcomes   To provide studies and analysis that support the concept’s viability for further development.	To develop and validate the programme / service / prototype so that it takes on a clearer form to achieve the intended outcomes.	To test and validate the programme / service / prototype in the field (a relevant environment)   May include initial production and roll-out.
Requirements	N.A.	Successful attainment of KPIs and milestones for Design Phase. Proof-of-concept shows promising results and clear validation plan for proposed programme/service/ prototype through a pilot.	Successful attainment of KPIs and milestones for both Design and Development phases. Validated pilot programme/service/ prototype before field test-bedding.
Time Period	Three years, with the possibility of an extension for another year. Project teams will have the flexibility to decide the time allocated to each phase.The implementation phase should last for at least one year.

Awards

• Up to 80% funding of approved qualifying costs to develop and implement proposed solutions for up to a period of three years.

• Support for indirect costs, on top of supportable qualifying costs,  is capped at 20% of the supportable qualifying direct costs

Important Dates to Note

The timeline for key activities under the Grant Call on Cognition is set out below.

Activity	Date
Call for Proposals	9 November 2015 (Mon)
Public Briefing	11 November 2015 (Wed)
Deadline for Proposal Abstract Submission * Interested participants are to submit a short 6-page proposal with a summary of their proposed solutions. The organiser will assess compliance to the eligibility criteria and grant scope, and shortlist eligible participants to flesh out their proposals in greater details.	8 January 2016 (Fri)
Deadline for Submission of Project Proposal	29 February 2016 (Mon)
Announcement of Results	Second half of 2016

Public Briefing

MOH held a Public Briefing for the grant call on 11 November 2015. Please refer to this deck of presentation slides if you would like to find out more.

Submission

For terms and conditions of the Grant, please refer to the Grant Call on Cognition Public Documentand Grant Call on Cognition Public Document Annex A.

Project proposals will be submitted through a two-stage process, as follows: 

1. Project Abstract.     Project teams are to first submit an abstract of their proposed Project, using the “Project Abstract Submission Template”.

   Participants shall furnish all necessary information and documents as required in the template. Two hardcopies of the Project Abstract should reach MOH no later than 8 January 2016 at 1700hrs.

   All Project Abstracts received will be preliminarily assessed for compliance with the eligibility criteria and scope. Shortlisted eligible Project Teams will be asked to flesh out their proposed Project in greater detail for the second stage.

2. Project Proposal.     MOH will inform the respective Team Leads of shortlisted Project teams via email to submit their detailed Project Proposal using the “Project Proposal Submission Template” that will be emailed to them. Project teams shall furnish all necessary information and documents as required in the template. There is no limit to the length of the Project Proposal. Two hardcopies of the Project Proposal should reach MOH. 

In addition to submitting hard copies, Participants shall email soft copies of their Project Abstract and Project Proposal to NIC_Ageing@moh.gov.sg by their respective deadlines.

Documents for Downloading

• Grant Call on Cognition Public Document
  
• Grant Call on Cognition Public Document Annex A
  
• Project Abstract Submission Template

Supporting Agencies:

• National Research Foundation (NRF)

Contact Us

For any enquiries on the Grant Call on Cognition or the National Innovation Challenge, please email us at NIC_Ageing@moh.gov.sg.