Translation and Innovation Grants

CRPO is set to initiate the CRPO Grant Call – Grand Challenge to back the advancement of cyber technologies and innovation addressing tangible issues with transparency and accountability. The goal is to generate national benefits for Singapore.

The CRPO Grant Call is a competitive funding initiative aimed at fostering research projects that push the boundaries of cyber technologies within Singapore-based Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs)1, Research Institutes (RIs)2, and Industry Partners3. We enthusiastically invite proposals from diverse and collaborative teams, including academics, researchers, scientists, engineers, domain experts, and other professionals, to contribute to the advancement of cutting-edge cyber technology science.

Translation and Innovation Grants: Translational and Innovation Grants aim to seed strategic research collaborations among local cybersecurity research communities, industry and government agencies with the intent to build capabilities within the local ecosystem. Projects should either demonstrate the use of cybersecurity technologies for a commercial application or group of applications, or to address identified use cases and challenges. CRPO will help to de-risk the adoption of cyber related technologies by providing grants which will enable SMEs to de-risk technologies beyond technology readiness level (TRL) 7 and accelerate adoption by industry. NTU envisions various collaboration models to bring in CRPO to industry and government agencies.

 

 

 

1.1. Aligned with the aforementioned goals and directions, this grant call will concentrate on cybersecurity research.

1.2. Translation and Innovation Grants: Translational and Innovation Grants aim to seed strategic research collaborations among local cybersecurity research communities, industry and government agencies with the intent to build capabilities within the local ecosystem. Projects should either demonstrate the use of cybersecurity technologies for a commercial application or group of applications, or to address identified use cases and challenges. CRPO will help to de-risk the adoption of cyber related technologies by providing grants which will enable SMEs to de-risk technologies beyond technology readiness level (TRL) 7 and accelerate adoption by industry. NTU envisions various collaboration models to bring in CRPO to industry and government agencies.

1.3. The proposed opportunities and focus areas shall include and not limited to:

1.3.1. Experiments and field trial grants aim to obtain the industry validation of cybersecurity technologies by conducting deployment and field trials in anchor industry partner’s premises. The industry collaborator is required to provide a suitable unconstrained environment to deploy and collect data to assess the feasibility of the project. One example of a field trial experiment is: integration with industry player’s product and deploy in an application scenario e.g., in a hospital. These could be, for example, applying homomorphic encryption and enabling data exchange and secure multi-party computation by MAS or Credit Bureau of Singapore without revealing client raw data by participating entities. In these scenarios, it requires security at storage (data at rest), security during communication (data on the move from point A to point B), and security during computation and data analytics (security during computation) and enables secure multiparty or federated learning.

1.3.2. Proof-of-concept (POC) grants aim to demonstrate the feasibility of cybersecurity technologies for a commercial application or group of applications. These projects can be awarded to local SMEs or researchers from various institutions. Industrial collaboration will be in the form of support from an industry player or group of players. Industry players could participate by sharing their data, infrastructure, or providing a platform to demonstrate the feasibility of the project and business case. These projects will be evaluated on innovation, the business and market potential. POC projects seek to introduce cybersecurity technologies into new frontiers. Some examples of POC projects are: demonstration of cybersecurity algorithms in complex healthcare applications and data sharing across hospital groups or other data sharing across government agencies to enable analytics without compromising on data privacy or data leakage.

1.3.3. Proof-of-value (POV) grants aim to demonstrate the economic viability of cybersecurity technologies in a specific application scenario, or as a new feature, or a new product. POV projects are mainly targeted for industry validation and to develop go to market (GTM) strategy either independently as a start-up or together with the industry partner as a strategic enhancement to their core business. POV projects are expected to have an anchor start-up or industry collaborator, with co-funding from the industry collaborator. The desired end result of such projects is the adoption and integration of cybersecurity technologies into the start-up/industry collaborator’s core business/products. Some examples of POV projects are translate knowledge or CRPO IP to be adopted by an anchor start-up/industry or demonstrate a new application or feature that has economic and/or performance benefits. 

1.3.4. Industry driven grants play a crucial role in the development and deployment of cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. These grants are often backed by both private and public sector entities, creating a collaborative effort to enhance the security landscape. By pooling resources and expertise, these grants enable the creation of innovative technologies and strategies that address emerging threats and vulnerabilities in the digital space.

1.4. The grant applicant(s) is responsible for defining the proposed research, problem scope, technical approach, and potential impacts of the proposal. Additionally, proposals must explicitly address the following key points:

  • Alignment of the proposal with CRPO's objectives and direction.
  • Explanation of the novelty of the research and the significant research challenge it aims to address.
  • Clarification of potential industry applications or impact.
  • Presentation of the translation plan.
  • Explanation of the relevance of the research to Singapore.

2.1. CRPO intends to unveil ten (10) Translation and Innovation Grants aimed at soliciting innovative approaches to enhance the cybersecurity landscape of both Singapore and the global community. The initiative seeks breakthrough POC, POV, experiments and field trial ideas that can propel advancements in cybersecurity technologies. Each challenge offers funding of up to Singapore Dollars One Million ($1,000,000) for a selected grant applicant, supporting a duration of 1 to 1.5 years for each project.

2.2. The grant calls will be released as CRPO Summer Grant Call, CRPO Winter Grant Call and CRPO Spring Grant Call. The first call is set to release sometime in July 2024. Please look at Section 6 for the planned timeline of Translation and Innovation Grants.

2.3. The proposal shall be based on a realistic budget with appropriate justifications that correspond to the scope of work to be accomplished.

2.4. The total cost of each project includes all approved direct costs4 and indirect research costs/overheads5. All expenditure budgeted should be inclusive of any applicable Goods and Services Taxes (GST) at the prevailing rates.

2.5. The corresponding budget requested includes 30% Indirect Research Costs (IRC).

2.6. For all direct cost items proposed for the project, please refer to Annex C – Guidelines for the Management of CRPO Grants, including the list of “Non-Fundable Direct Costs” and note the following:

  • Host Institutions must strictly comply with their own procurement practices.
  • Host Institutions must ensure that all cost items are reasonable and are incurred under formally established, consistently applied policies and prevailing practices of the host institution.
  • All items/services/manpower purchased/engaged must be necessary for the R&D work.


2.7. Research Scholarships are not eligible for support under the CRPO Grant Call.

2.8. Funds awarded cannot be used to support overseas R&D activities. All funding awarded must be used to carry out the research activities in Singapore.


3.1.  The grant call is open to researchers from all Singapore-based Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), Research Institutes (RIs) and Industry Partners[1].

3.2. At the point of application, the Principal Investigator (PI) must hold a full- time[2] appointment in one of the eligible institutions. The PI must be a subject matter expert in the proposed domain, with strong record of publications in the proposed domain’s conferences and journals.

3.3. Lead PI must be from the IHLs or the RIs and the Co-PI can be from the Industry Partners.

3.4. If applicable, Co-PIs must hold a full-time appointment in one of the eligible institutions at the point of application. At least one of the Co-PIs must be a subject matter expert in the proposed domain. For industry partner, the Co-PIs must hold full-time appointments at the company.

3.5. Researchers from Medical Institutions[3], Singapore based companies and Singapore based Start-ups, private sector, and other entities are eligible to apply as Collaborators.

3.6. Company collaboration(s) with in-kind contributions is encouraged, but not compulsory.

3.7. The team must have the right skills and experience to deliver the project and demonstrate sufficient engagement with stakeholders to scope the proposal.

3.8. The overseas collaborators and/or visiting experts may be invited to Singapore on short term engagements to assist with specific project tasks. In this arrangement, the costs of airfare, accommodation and per diem can be budgeted under the other operating expenses of the project.

3.9. Only research conducted in Singapore may be funded under CRPO Grant Call – Translation and Innovation. Please refer to Annex B – Terms and Conditions of CRPO Grant.

3.10. Lead PI and Co-PIs should note that parallel submissions are not allowed – i.e., applicants must never send similar versions or part(s) of the current proposal application to other agencies or grants for funding (or vice versa). The
proposals should not be funded, or currently considered for funding, by other agencies. Details of all grants currently held or being applied for by the Lead PI and Co-PIs in related areas of research must be declared in Annex A - CRPO Grant Call Proposal Template.


 

References

[1] National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), A*STAR Research Institutes, Singapore based companies and Singapore based Start-ups.

[2] Defined as at least 9 months of service a year based in Singapore or 75% appointment.

[3] Researchers from Medical Institutions in Singapore who hold at least 25% joint appointment in a Singapore-based IHL and/or A*STAR RI may apply as Lead PI or Co-PI. If awarded, the grant will be hosted in the IHL / A*STAR RI.

 


4.1. Full proposals are to be submitted using the Proposal Template for CRPO Research Call in Annex A and must also adequately address the pointers stated therein.

4.2. Full proposals will be reviewed by the Evaluation Committee, based on the quality of the proposals in the key aspects listed in Section 2 as well as the following:

  •   Past research accomplishments of the PI, Co-PI and any collaborators
  •   Project management plan

4.3. An illustration of the application, review and selection process is shown below:

Review and Selection Process

4.4. The review will be carried out by the CRPO Evaluation Committee but based on reviews of the proposals solicited from local and overseas experts.
 

4.5. The example summer timeline[1] for Translation and Innovation CRPO Grant Call is shown below:

Themed and Emerging area CRPO Grant Call

4.6. The review process is expected to take approximately 6 weeks. All decisions are final with no right of appeals.

4.7. Please note that respective IHLs’ or RIs’ internal deadline for full proposal submission may differ. However, all proposals selected and endorsed by the Host Institutions must be submitted via email to [email protected] according to the above timeline.

4.8. CRPO reserves the right to reject late or incomplete submission, and submissions that do not comply with application instructions.

 

References

[1] Timeline is subject to change and based on CRPO decisions.


5.1. One Lead-PI from Singapore-based Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and Research Institutes (RIs) to conduct fundamental research.

5.2. One industry Co-PI from Singapore-based companies or startup to identify and translate IPs with commercial potential.

5.3. Potential customer collaborators who are willing to adopt the developed security solutions and provide requirement feedback.

5.4. An illustration of the team structure and the collaboration between the teams is shown below:


the team structure and the collaboration