A*Star Joint Council Office

JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE GRANT CALL Application Form

A*STAR JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE

11TH JCO PROJECT GRANT CALL

Application Form

Application must be submitted to the Joint Council Office (JCO) by the Grant Call End date stated on the iGRANTs website. Please submit:  One Fully Endorsed Electronic Copy via the iGRANTs website  One softcopy (word format) with the email title as “Application to 11th Project Grant Call”

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR GRANT APPLICATION SUBMISSION ON IGRANTS:  In view that internal approvals / processes for grant application varies from RIs to RIs, applicants are requested to seek prior internal approval / clearance before submitting an application on iGRANTS. Proposals which are rejected during the endorsement phase and are not re-submitted by the grant call closing date will be deemed ineligible.  Please ensure that all people involved in the proposal (Project Director, Lead Investigator, Collaborators) have a registered account with iGRANTS. The application on iGRANTS must be submitted by the Project Director.  The Project Director is responsible in ensuring that all relevant parties endorse the application before the Grant Call End Date. JCO reserves the right to reject an application if the fully endorsed proposal was not submitted before the Grant Call End Date via iGRANTs.  Please note that once the application has been submitted by the Project Director the electronic endorsement sequence will be as follows: 1. All Lead Investigator(s) 2. RI EDs of all participating RIs 3. Collaborator(s) 4. Head of Department of Host Institution 5. RI ED of Host Institution

Joint Council Office 1 Fusionopolis Way #20-10 Connexis (North) Singapore 138632 Tel: (65) 6826 6356 Fax: (65) 6478 9587 E-mail: [email protected] JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE GRANT CALL Application Form OVERVIEW OF JCO PROJECT GRANT CALL

A*STAR’s Joint Council (A*JC) Project Grants support bottom-up investigator-led multidisciplinary collaborative research at A*STAR. To be considered for the A*JC Project Grants, the proposal must present a multidisciplinary plan that brings together capabilities in the biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering.

Applicants may apply for one of the two grants listed in the table below. Depending on the recommendation of the review panel, applicants of the JCO Research Grant may be asked to re- scope their proposal and apply for the Exploratory Grant.

Grant Type Description Max number Maximum of years Quantum per proposal Exploratory Encourages new and exploratory research by Grant providing funding for proof-of-concept and feasibility 1 $200K studies. The exploratory grants are intended to provide research support for new, exciting and innovative research proposals. Full Supports a distinct and well-defined research project. Research Sufficient background work must be demonstrated to 3 $1 Mil Grant be eligible for funding.

The JCO grant provides for pro-rated manpower support for A*STAR researchers. Please refer to “JCO Project Grants 11th JCO Grant Call - Guidelines for Budget Proposal Preparation” for further details.

All grant applications should involve at at least two separate entities within A*STAR (i.e must be from different RIs) and must have at least one (1) Lead Investigator with BMS expertise and one (1) Lead Investigator with S&E expertise. There shall be only ONE (1) Project Director for each application. In the context of this grant, the Project Director is one of the intellectual drivers of the project and is responsible together with the Lead Investigators for the milestones and deliverables associated with the grant. The responsibility includes ensuring that the JCO grant is appropriately apportioned to the participating RIs / Consortia. A Lead Investigator is a researcher who makes significant contributions to the intellectual content and is responsible for the milestones and deliverables associated with a specific component(s) of the proposed research work. For the purposes of this grant, it has no reference to a particular RSE Grade. Lead Investigators must have an appointment with an A*STAR RI / consortium.

To ensure that only high quality proposals are funded, all proposals received are subject to a competitive peer review process, which includes evaluation by independent referees from the international and local community. The key funding criteria include the following:

 Collaborative nature of the project (multidisciplinary research, and good balance of technical and scientific contributions from all participating entities)  Importance of the problem (prevalence, inadequacy of existing approaches)  Technical merit and innovation of the project  Track record of the PD and research team  Intellectual property history and opportunities, translational potential of the research  Appropriateness of budget

of 22 JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE GRANT CALL Application Form New policy for JCO Grant Application Submission (Applicable to the 11th JCO Project Grant Call)

Please note that JCO will be implementing the following policy for grant application submission from 1 Dec 2012:

1. All electronic copies of the proposals must be submitted and fully endorsed via iGRANTS by the grant call closing date. 2. Proposals which are not submitted with full endorsements by the grant call closing date will be deemed as late submissions and will be automatically rejected by iGRANTS. 3. Offline submissions will not be entertained. 4. The grant call open period for Project Grants will be changed from 6 weeks to 8 weeks.

The following guidelines may assist you in the grant application process:

Browser Compatibility

Please note that iGRANTS is compatible with Internet Explorer and Firefox only as indicated on the website. Inability to submit proposals due to the use of an incompatible browser will not be considered as a valid reason for late submissions. Applicants are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the system a few weeks prior to the grant call closing date and to contact JCO early should they need technical assistance.

Prior Internal Approval/Clearance

1. Project Director / Lead Investigator(s) MUST seek prior internal approval / clearance before submitting applications on iGRANTS. 2. Proposals rejected at the endorsement phase by any of the following personnel (Collaborator / Lead Investigator / Head of Department / Executive Director of host and participating institutes) must be re-submitted with full endorsements by the grant call closing date. 3. Proposals which are not re-submitted with full endorsements by the grant call closing date will be deemed as late submissions and will be rejected automatically by iGRANTS.

Endorsement

1. Applicants are strongly advised to: a. Inform all the relevant endorsers (Collaborator / Lead Investigator / Head of Department/ Executive Director of host and participating institutes) early, b. Check their travelling schedule and c. Ensure that they are aware of the requirement for all endorsement to be completed by the grant call closing date. 2. Should the endorser(s) be going overseas, prior arrangements should be made: a. For the endorser(s) to obtain internet access while overseas to endorse the proposal online via iGRANTS. b. Alternatively, prior to the endorser(s) leaving for their overseas trips, the respective RI Research Administrators can assign officially appointed acting designate(s) on iGRANTs to endorse the proposals on behalf of the endorsing personnel or authority who will be travelling. 1. TITLE OF PROJECT: In no more than 30 words; be descriptive rather than general.

2. GRANT CATEGORY:

of 22 JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE GRANT CALL Application Form

Indicate the grant category applied for i.e. Exploratory or Full Research Grant

3. DURATION OF PROJECT (YEARS): Indicate the number of years funding support is requested for

4. MAIN RESEARCH AREA: Please indicate the main research area (s) of the proposal

5. SUB- RESEARCH AREA: Please select the sub research area (s) of the proposal

6. PROJECT DIRECTOR 1 (Only one Project Director (PD) per application) Name: Institution: E-mail:

7. LEAD INVESTIGATOR(S) 2 (Please add if there are more Lead Investigators (LI)) (Do not include non-LIs of this grant in this section. Please indicate them as collaborators in the next section) Name: Institution: E-mail:

Name: Institution: E-mail:

8. COLLABORATOR(S)3 (Please indicate Collaborators of the project in this section) Name: Institution: E-mail:

1 The Project Director shall be one of the Lead Investigators who will be responsible for coordinating the project team and managing the grant award. The responsibility includes ensuring that the JCO grant is appropriately apportioned to the participating RIs / Consortia and consolidating progress reports for submission to JCO. Please refer to page 2 of the application form for more details. 2 A Lead Investigator is a researcher who makes significant contributions to the intellectual content and is responsible for the milestones and deliverables associated with a specific component(s) of the proposed research work. For the purposes of this grant, it has no reference to a particular RSE Grade. 3 Collaborator(s) are non-A*STAR investigator(s) who may be based either locally or overseas. Collaborator(s) are not entitled to receive (directly or indirectly) any portion of this grant.

of 22 JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE GRANT CALL Application Form Name: Institution: E-mail:

9. DECLARATION OF ETHICS CONSIDERATION Please note that approval of grant is subject to ethics approval.

Please tick, where appropriate, if your study involves the following:

Human subject Use of Human Tissues or Cells Animal Experimentation Use of Animal Tissues or Cells Requirement for containment Class 2 and above

Please indicate if your study requires ethics approval:

If the response is “No”, please provide reasons:

A copy of the ethics approval is attached:

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10. LAY ABSTRACT OF THE PROPOSAL In no more than 300 words, please provide a general description of the proposal that can be understood by a non-scientific audience. Please include its importance to science or medicine and society at large, and where appropriate, the approach of the research proposal..

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11. SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT OF THE PROPOSAL In no more than 300 words, please provide a succinct and accurate scientific description of the proposal to include the specific aims, hypotheses, methodology and approach of the research proposal, including its importance to science or medicine.

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12. DETAILS OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL Word limit for Full Research Grants: 4000 Word limit for Exploratory Grants: 2500 Instruction and Guide for details of research proposal.

Give a description of the research within the word limit specified above. Information SHOULD include specific aim(s) of the project, scientific significance, preliminary studies/progress reports, methods, and publications/patents related to the research proposal. Please emphasise on the novelty and innovative aspects of the proposed work. References should be provided on a separate page. a) Specific Aims State concisely and realistically what the research described in this application is intended to accomplish and/or what hypothesis is to be tested. b) Scientific Significance Briefly sketch the background to the current proposal, critically evaluate existing knowledge and specifically identify the gaps which the project is intended to fill. State concisely the importance of the research described in this application by relating the specific aims to the longer term objectives. State the significance of the research to scientific applications and tangible improvements in physical or life sciences that may result from the study. Highlight all cross-council interactions that would result from the proposal. Relevant references should be appended. c) Preliminary Studies/Progress Reports Please provide an account of the Lead Investigator’s preliminary studies (if any) pertinent to the applications and/or any other information that will help to establish the experience and competence of the investigator pursuing the proposed project. d) Methods Discuss in detail the experimental design and the procedure to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Describe the protocols to be used and the tentative sequence of the investigation. Include statistical justification and the means by which data will be analysed and interpreted. Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. Point out any procedures, situations or materials that may be hazardous to personnel and the precautions to be exercised. Make every attempt succinct.

Details of Research Proposal Print information using Arial Font 10, single-spaced and within the specified word limit.

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13. REFERENCES Please list in chronological order the titles and complete references to recent representative publications pertinent to this research proposal and the applicants’ publications and patents held related to this research proposal. Highlight Scientific Award(s), if any, of the applicant(s).

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14. WORK CONTRIBUTION OF TEAM MEMBERS AND COLLABORATION PLAN Please provide detailed description of the work contribution of each of the team members. Include the plans for fostering interaction amongst the team members in achieving the research objectives.

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15. CONTRIBUTION DETAILS For each team member, please provide the expected percentage effort within the project. Please indicate LIs and other research staff for whom you are seeking EOM support. You may also include non-LI investigators in this section i.e. collaborators in this section. Please note that collaborators are not entitled to receive (directly or indirectly) any portion of the project funds.

Percentage effort within project - Represents percentage effort spent by the research staff in the project relative to his/her other team members. The total in each column must add up to 100%

Percentage effort within own job scope - Represents percentage effort spent by the research staff in the project relative to his/her other job scope (if any). Please note that the EOM requested (if any) for the research staff will be pro-rated according to his percentage effort within own job scope committed to the JCO project. Hence, please ensure that the percentage effort within own job scope for the research staff listed in this section tally with the pro-rated EOM requested for (if any) in the budget breakdown section.

Please refer to “JCO Project Grants 11th Grant Call - Guidelines for Budget Proposal Preparation” for further details.

Research Staff / Research EOM Support % effort within % effort within own Role in project Institute Requested? project4 job scope5 (Yes/No)

4 Represents percentage effort spent by the research staff in the project relative to his/her other team members. The total in each column must add up to 100%. 5 Represents percentage effort spent by the research staff in the project relative to his/her other job scope (if any). Please refer to “JCO Project Grants 11th Grant Call - Guidelines for Budget Proposal Preparation” for further details.

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CURRICULUM VITAE In no more than 1 page per applicant, please provide the following information on the Project Director, and all Lead Investigator(s)

 Name and institution

 User identification number of the personal homepage at the Singapore Researchers Database (SRDB) (https://researchers.a-star.edu.sg).

* Please create the CV profiles of each applicant at the SRDB if this has not been done.

 Selected publications (not more than 10 relevant publications)

Attention to applicants:

Please note that the grant reviewers will be referring to the Singapore Researchers Database (SRDB) for the CV of grant applicants. Hence, please ensure that the SRDB homepages are comprehensive and up to date.

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Curriculum Vitae - 1 page per applicant. Print information using Arial Font 10 and within the given area. Please replicate this page for more CVs.

Name: ______

Institution: ______

ID number at Singapore Researchers Database: ______(e.g. 9876)

Selected publications (not more than 10 relevant publications)

Attention to reviewers:

Please use the following steps to read the full CV of the applicant: 1. Go to the Singapore Researchers Database website at https://researchers.a-star.edu.sg 2. Type in either the full name of the applicant, or the ID number specified above.

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16. OTHER SUPPORT Provide the following details for the grants currently held or being applied for by the PDs/LIs.

A. Grant Support

Provide details for all currently held or applied grants by the PD and/or LI(s). These include those supported by / applied to BMRC, SERC, NMRC, Universities, Clusters, International and Local public agencies and other Foundations. Attach the scientific abstract of each grant listed below for JCO's reference.

Amount Expiry Title of Funding Years of Grant Call ID Status Awarded/Applied Date of Research Agency support for the grant

B. All Other Resources

Provide details on funding, drug(s), sample(s) or other resources provided by any participating industry/clinical partner(s) for the applied grant.

Type of Funding Duration of Support Expiry Date Resource Organisation

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17. PROPOSED BUDGET Please plan the budget on an annual basis. The actual start date will be announced in the Letter of Award. You are advised to prepare the budget carefully under each category and for each RI and provide the details and justification for all categories in Section 19. Please note that virements of funds (of any amount) across RIs should not be made without the prior written consent of JCO. Only expenses directly related to the project are allowed. All A*STAR research staff associated with the project qualify for salary support from JCO. The EOM is to be pro-rated according to staff’s percentage time commitment to the JCO project and should not exceed 70% of the total grant award.

EOM No. RI Cost per head Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total ($) (please indicate ($) role)

EOM Sub-total EQUIPMENT No. RI Description Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total ($)

Lab Apparatus

Specialised Equipment Others (please state) EQUIPMENT Subtotal OOE RI Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total ($)

Materials & Consumables

Animal Cost Maintenance

Others (please state) OOE Subtotal Overseas Travel and Conferences RI Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total ($) Conferences (Please indicate # of persons travelling) Others (please state) Travel Subtotal GRAND TOTAL * Note: Please indicate the budget requirement for each line item clearly. Please list individual items to be bought under Lab Apparatus and specialised Equipment. An aggregate budget for each category is not acceptable. Contingency funds are not allowed. Please refer to “JCO Project Grants 11th JCO Grant Call - Guidelines for Budget Proposal Preparation” and A*STAR policies for financial and procurement regulations/procedures.

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18. DETAILS AND JUSTIFICATION OF PROPOSED BUDGET

a) EOM Vote

b) Equipment Vote

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c) OOE Vote

d) Overseas Travel and Conferences Vote

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19. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Please indicate the final expected targets. Please state “0” Zero where indicator is not applicable.

Target Performance Indicators Number

Training R&D PhD students trained or under training as part of manpower the grant Capability Post-doctoral (within 3 years of the PhD award) Indicators researchers hired under the grant Developing Joint programs/projects with prestigious long term international research organisations R&D Joint programs/projects with local universities capability Invention disclosures Patents filed Patents granted Patents commercialised Papers published in international journals

Presentations at international conferences External awards for research at international level R&D Industry6 funding received Industry collaboration No. of industry7 projects Relevance Indicators R&D projects with industry cash funding Outcomes Revenue from royalties and licensing agreements Spin-off companies registered New products or processes commercialised

6 This includes all revenue received from industry. It excludes revenue from non-industry sources, such as public sector agencies (including local universities and restructured hospitals) or international grant agencies or foundations. 7 This measures the number of R&D projects undertaken with industry. Funding from this grant is not allowed to support industry. Please refer to above footnote entities which do not qualify as industry.

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20. MILESTONES Please propose Milestones to track the progress of the study. Please note that yearly progress reports should be submitted to the JCO. The progress of the project will be taken into consideration for continued disbursements of funds.

Milestones Duration/ Date of Fulfilment Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

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21. SUGGESTED NAMES OF LOCAL AND OVESEAS REVIEWERS Please suggest names of at least 5 reviewers who may be suitable to review the proposed project, and state the relationship with the PD/LI(s). Reviewers who are co-authors with the PD/LI(s) in publications are generally not to be included. Please note that reviewers must not have conflict of interest or involvement (direct and indirect) with the proposed project. The JCO has the final discretion whether to select the suggested reviewers for the evaluation of the grant proposal.

S/N Title Names of Reviewers Details of contacts Relationship to (Please provide mailing address, Project Director tel and fax numbers, e-mail address) and/or Lead Investigator(s) 1

22. REVIEWERS NOT TO BE SENT TO

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23. UNDERTAKING BY PROJECT DIRECTOR, ALL LEAD INVESTIGATOR(S) AND ALL COLLABORATOR(S)

In signing the Grant Application, the Project Director, all Lead Investigator(s) and all Collaborator(s) UNDERTAKE, on any Grant Award, to: . Not send similar versions or part(s) of this proposal to other agencies for funding . Submit supporting documents of ethics approval obtained from the relevant Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Animal Ethics Committee for studies involving human subjects/human tissues or cells, and animal/animal tissues or cells respectively. . Be actively engaged in the execution of the research and comply with all laws, rules and regulations pertaining to animal and human ethics, including the Singapore Good Clinical Practice guidelines . Ensure that A*STAR JCO funding is acknowledged in all publications . Ensure that all publications arising from research wholly or partly funded by A*STAR JCO will be forwarded to A*STAR JCO . Co-operate with A*STAR JCO to foster interactions amongst researchers from BMRC and SERC . Obtain approval from A*STAR JCO before engaging in any commercial activity that will exploit the findings of the research funded by A*STAR JCO

Signing of the grant application is to be done electronically via i-GRANTS system (http://igrants.a-star.edu.sg/) by the following personnel:

1. Project Director 2. Lead Investigator(s) 3. Collaborator(s) (if any)

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24. UNDERTAKING BY A*STAR INSTITUTIONS / CONSORTIA

In signing the Grant Application, the Institution UNDERTAKES, on any Grant Award, to: . Provide appropriate support during the grant period . Ensure that the funds provided are used for the appropriate purposes . Ensure that the study complies with all laws, rules and regulations pertaining to animal and human ethics, including the Singapore Good Clinical Practice guidelines . Ensure that all necessary licenses and approvals have been obtained or are being sought . Ensure that approval from A*STAR JCO has been obtained before engaging in any commercial activity that will exploit the findings of the research funded by A*STAR JCO

Signing of the grant application is to be done electronically via i-GRANTS system (http://igrants.a-star.edu.sg/) by the following personnel:

1. Chairman/ Executive Director of Host Institution 2. Chairman/ Executive Director of LI’s Institution(s) 3. Head of Department of Host Institution