Singapore Food Story R&D Grant Call

Background of Singapore Food Story R&D Programme

The Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme was initiated to drive research in sustainable urban food production, future foods, and food safety science and innovation.

The second phase, SFS 2.0, places greater emphasis on addressing food security challenges, which include intensifying sustainability and circularity for Singapore’s climate change commitments and enhancing food safety amidst the emergence of novel food.

To learn more, you can download Towards a Food Resilient Future.

Who can apply for the 2nd phase (SFS 2.0) R&D grants?

Principal Investigators (PI) from all Singapore-based:

• institutions of higher learning (IHLs)
  
• public sector agencies
  
• not-for-profit research laboratories and
  
• private sector entities

What grants are available?

There are four grants:

Seed Grant

To boost local food production in Singapore, innovative and potentially disruptive solutions will need to be developed. The Seed Grant call serves as a platform for knowledge creation and discovery science through supporting R&D in areas with lower TRLs.

Through this grant call, SFA is seeking to explore innovations that strengthen current capabilities and knowledge for food security, as well as enhance its resilience against unanticipated needs and emerging opportunities.

Researchers, technology providers and potential adopters are encouraged to co-develop innovative solutions for aquaculture, sustainable urban agriculture, future foods, and food safety domains.

Scope of Seed Grant call

The Seed Grant call supports lower TRLs R&D which demonstrates strong innovation potential. Research proposals should address the challenge statements and deliver the specific outcomes under the respective domain.

Emerging areas not mentioned below may also be proposed, provided they have the potential to significantly contribute towards Singapore's food security.

For more details on the scope, refer to How to apply for the Seed Grant.

How to apply for the Seed Grant

To learn more about the Seed Grant and how to apply, download the following documents:

All applications have to be submitted online via the Integrated Grants Management System (IGMS) and endorsed by the host institution’s Director of Research or equivalent to be eligible.

Research Translation Grant

The aquaculture, agriculture, and future food sectors hold significant potential for growth and further development to boost Singapore's food security. Embracing innovative technologies is key to bolstering Singapore's capability and capacity to grow food locally in a sustainable and climate-resilient manner.

Through this grant call, SFA is seeking solutions capable of enhancing the productivity of local food producers beyond the limits of current best-in-class technologies.

Researchers, technology providers, and potential adopters are strongly encouraged to collaborate on pioneering solutions to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications with tangible impacts on the industry. Such solutions should also take into consideration aspects such as commercial applicability, cost-effectiveness, resource use efficiency, sustainability, and climate resilience.

Scope of Research Translation grant call

This grant call focuses on the translational R&D of promising agri-food R&D that are at higher technology readiness levels, within specific areas of focus, and demonstrate strong potential for commercialisation.

Research proposals should address the challenge statements and deliver the specific outcomes under the respective domain.

You can also propose emerging areas not mentioned below if it has the potential to significantly contribute towards Singapore's food security. 

Research Translation Grant proposals would need to fulfil industry R&D spending (IRS) gearing ratio for respective domains.

For more details on the scope, refer to How to apply for the Research Translation Grant.

How to apply for the Research Translation Grant

To learn more about the Research Translation Grant and how to apply, download the following documents:

All applications have to be submitted online via the Integrated Grants Management System (IGMS) and endorsed by the host institution’s Director of Research or equivalent to be eligible.

Future Foods Main Grant on Process Development

The future foods sector holds significant potential for growth and further development. Embracing innovative technologies is key to bolstering Singapore's capability and capacity to grow food locally in a sustainable and climate-resilient manner.

Through this grant call, SFA is seeking solutions capable of enhancing the productivity of local food producers beyond the limits of current best-in-class technologies.

Researchers, technology providers, and potential adopters are strongly encouraged to collaborate on pioneering solutions to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications with tangible impacts on the industry. Such solutions should also take into consideration aspects such as commercial applicability, cost-effectiveness, resource use efficiency, sustainability, and climate resilience.

For other enquiries, please write in to SFA_RND@sfa.gov.sg.

Second Future Foods Main Grant on Nutrition and Functionality

The future foods industry is a sector that has the potential for further growth and development to contribute to local production. Embracing innovative technologies is key to bolstering Singapore's capability and capacity to grow food locally in a sustainable and climate-resilient manner.

Through this grant call, SFA is seeking solutions with the ability to increase the consumer acceptance of future foods by improving their flavour, texture and nutritional properties. Researchers, technology providers, and potential adopters are strongly encouraged to collaborate on pioneering solutions to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications with tangible impacts for the industry. Such solutions should also take into consideration aspects such as commercial applicability, consumer preference, cost effectiveness, resource use efficiency, sustainability, and climate resilience.

The grant call will be open between 21 November 2024 1000hrs, Singapore time (UTC +8:00) and 11 February 2025, 1200hrs Singapore time (UTC +8:00). 

Scope of Second Future Foods Main Grant Call

This grant call focuses on promising Future Foods R&D which are at mid-TRLs within specific areas of focus, demonstrating strong potential for commercialisation.

These focus areas aim to improve the flavour (taste & aroma) and texture of Alternative Protein (AP), while ensuring a nutritional profile similar or superior to conventional protein products, with minimal processing steps and ingredients, especially in the Plant-Based Protein (PB) and Microbial Protein (MP) areas. Applicants should seek to address but are not limited to the following desired outcomes below in their Research Proposals.

Improving Nutrition and Functionality to Increase the Consumer Acceptance of AP

•             Improvement of taste and nutritional content

•             Improvement of protein content, bioavailability, and digestibility

•             Development of methods for simultaneous texturization and flavour generation

•             Development of methods for fat encapsulation

•             Optimisation of volatile flavour compounds

For more details on the scope, refer to How to apply for the Second Future Foods Main Grant on Nutrition and Functionality

How to apply for the Second Future Foods Main Grant on Nutrition and Functionality

To learn more about the Second Future Foods Main Grant on Nutrition and Functionality and how to apply, download the following documents:

All applications have to be submitted online via the Integrated Grants Management System (IGMS) and endorsed by the host institution’s Director of Research or equivalent to be eligible.

Food Safety Main Grant

Food toxicology involves the detection of toxic substances in food and characterisation of their associated health effects. By reviewing toxicological data, independent scientific expert committees conduct risk assessments and set regulatory limits for chemical food hazards. While animal testing is the current gold standard in toxicity testing, there are limitations in translation to human toxicity assessment, as well as a global shift away from animal testing towards New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) that reduce or eliminate the need for animal testing.

Through this grant call, SFA is seeking solutions to strengthen capabilities in the development and validation of NAMs preferably for the Asian phenotype and evaluation of NAMs and NAMs-derived data for comprehensive toxicological assessments. Such solutions should also take into account international guidelines, include validation experiments to show accuracy and reliability, and demonstrate improvement against existing test methodologies.

The grant call will be open between 08 January 2025 1000hrs, Singapore time (UTC +8:00) and 06 March 2025 1200hrs,  Singapore time (UTC +8:00).

Scope of Food Safety Main Grant Call

This grant call focuses on development of non-animal new approach methodologies (NAMs) for toxicological evaluation of food innovations.

The grant call seeks to develop validated non-animal NAM-based tools and platforms, preferably of the Asian phenotype, to assess and/or predict the toxicity of chemical food hazards, especially in cell-based food and fermentation-derived food products and on at least two organ systems of concern from a food safety perspective.

The focus areas may include, but are not limited to the:

• Development of validated 3D organ models (e.g. organoids, tissue/organ-on-chip) for toxicity evaluation of food compounds
• Use of validated in silico models such as physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling for quantitative in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation (QIVIVE) or assessing and/or predicting toxicokinetic parameters for food toxicants
• Development of quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) and read-across approaches to predict toxicity  
• Use of high-throughput omics (e.g. toxicogenomics, toxicoproteomics, toxicometabolomics) technologies and reporter assays for interrogation of adverse outcome pathways
• Use of high-content imaging and/or phenotypic profiling assays to differentiate adverse responses from adaptive biological changes
  

For more details on the scope, refer to How to apply for the Food Safety Main Grant. 

How to apply for the Food Safety Main Grant

To learn more about the Food Safety Main Grant and how to apply, download the following documents:

All applications have to be submitted online via the Integrated Grants Management System (IGMS) and endorsed by the host institution’s Director of Research or equivalent to be eligible.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 

For more information
You can contact us at SFA_RND@sfa.gov.sg.