Grants

06 Apr 2021 - 31 Jan 2022

Brought to you by the Ministry of Health of Singapore (MOH) and supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Grant Call on Caregiving Ecosystem

The Grant Call on Caregiving Ecosystem (CareEco) is the first grant call under the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing Phase 1B. This grant call, launched under the research thrust on “Ageing in Place”, aims to catalyse multi-disciplinary translational research and innovation to achieve sustainable caregiving in the community setting, whilst addressing the current and future trends of caregiving in Singapore. This ought to translate to new care models and intervention programmes that can be implemented nationally to strengthen the caregiving ecosystem, with outcomes that are effective and help lower costs at the systems level. Technology should serve as a key enabler for the proposed solutions/interventions to enhance their impact and scalability.

Challenge Statement

The challenge is to develop innovative solutions on caregiving support that are sustainable and scalable in the community setting, to address the multi-factorial needs of caregivers and care recipients as they evolve over the care journey. The solutions should achieve better outcomes than currently in terms of improving the well-being of care recipients and caregivers, including reducing the number of caregiving hours, hospitalisations or subsequent institutionalisation for care recipients, by at least 25%.

Eligibility Criteria of Lead PI for CareEco

A Principal Investigator (PI) can submit only one application in response to the challenge statement.  However, he/she may be part of the Project Team of other applications. Applicants applying as Lead PI 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. The Lead PI should have PhD or MD/MBBS/BDS qualifications (exceptions would be made on a case-by-case basis).
  3. Is an independent PI with 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, or PI status in research institutes.
  4. Has a laboratory or research program 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 Singapore Medical Council (SMC) registered; or should be able to demonstrate ability to access patients through SMC registered Co-Is or Collaborators. 

Project Team Composition

Applicants for the Grant Call on Caregiving Ecosystem are required to form a Project Team comprising:

  1. Members from multi-disciplinary (e.g. pairing medical and technology, engineering) background and/or involving more than one Organisation; and
  2. An Implementation Partner (e.g. service provider, community organisation) to test-bed the proposed solutions.

A representative from each collaborating Institution, organisation and/or Implementation Partner should be appointed as part of the Research Team as Co-Investigator (Co-I) or Collaborator.

Awards

Public institutions/Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) will receive full funding support for approved direct costs. Private entities will receive up to 70% funding support for approved direct costs.

Support for indirect costs, on top of supportable qualifying direct costs, is capped at 20% of the supportable qualifying direct costs. Only Singapore-registered Institutions that are IHLs or not-for-profit entities, including public healthcare providers, may qualify for support for indirect costs.

Important dates to note

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

Activity

Date

Public Briefing

Apr 2021

Launch of Grant Call/Submission of LOI, Review and Shortlisting

Apr - Jun 2021

Submission of Full Proposals and Review

Jun - Nov 2021

Evaluation Panel meeting and Interview with Project Team

Nov - Dec 2021

Announcement of Results

Dec 2021 - Jan 2022

Public Briefing

MOH has conducted a virtual public briefing on the Grant Call on Caregiving Ecosystem on Monday, 5 April 2021 

Please click here to access the Briefing Slides.

Submission

It is mandatory for all applications to be submitted and endorsed by Host Institution's Director of Research(DOR) online via IGMS by 3 May 2021, 5pm.
We will not entertain any late/hardcopy submissions or submissions from individual applicants without endorsement from Host Institution.

Please click here to download the following information/templates relating to this Grant Call:

Grant Call on CareEco Public Document and Application Guide
IGMS Application templates for CareEco (Also downloadable from IGMS)
Guide to applying in IGMS
Terms and Conditions

Supporting Agency:

National Research Foundation (NRF)

Contact Us

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