Singapore Food Story R&D Programme

'Seed' Grant

To accelerate progress towards the ‘30 by 30’ vision, 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 Technology Readiness Levels (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, food safety domains.

Scope of ‘Seed’ Grant Call

The ‘Seed’ grant call supports lower TRL R&D which demonstrate strong innovation potential. Applicants shall address the following challenge statements, under the respective domain, in their Research Proposals. Applicants could also propose emerging areas not mentioned below if it could significantly contribute towards Singapore meeting the ‘30 by 30’ vision.

AQUAPOLIS (AQUACULTURE)

a.      Genetics & Breeding 

i. Development of superior fry/ fingerlings for tropical aquaculture species with superior traits (e.g., increase productivity in closed systems by more than 30%).

b.      Fish Feed & Health; Platform Technology / Facility 

i. Improvement of fish feed conversion ratio (FCR) (e.g., to 1.2 or lower) at an affordable cost; and

ii. Reduction in fish mortality from key fish diseases (e.g., to 20% or lower).

c.      Emerging Areas 

SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE

a.      Seed Genetics & Breeding for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) 

i. Development of seeds with superior traits for CEA (e.g., improve yield by more than 20%) through faster plant growth.

b.      Sustainability 

i. Reduction in average energy consumption for vertical farming (e.g., by more than 30% via optimised lighting recipes and air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation systems).

c.     Emerging Areas  

FUTURE FOODS

a.       Improving Process Development to Enable Future Manufacturing of Alternative Protein (AP) 

i. Development of scale-down process and digital twin model to enable improved efficiency and sustainability of AP modalities such as Microbial Proteins or Cultured Meat; and

ii. Development of novel technologies and approaches to improve viability of AP production process (e.g., bioreactor design or optimising use of media).

b.       Strengthening Nutrition & Functionality of AP products 

i. Development of alternative/novel carbohydrates and lipids, and other specialty ingredients to enhance nutrition availability and functionality of AP products and boost consumer acceptance; and

ii. Characterisation and application of impact of in-process modifications to enhance AP functionality.

c.       Emerging Areas 

FOOD SAFETY

a.       Methodologies for Toxicity & Allergenicity Assessment 

i. Development of non-animal-based screening methodologies to ensure safety of food innovations, particularly for unexpected hazards; and

ii. Improvement in throughput (time) or cost savings (e.g., by at least 30%) for selected methodologies.

b.       Emerging Areas (e.g., Bio-surveillance)

Eligibility Criteria

Principal Investigators (PI) from all Singapore-based institutions of higher learning (IHLs), public sector agencies and private sector entities, are eligible to apply.

Common FAQs

For enquiries on the ‘Seed’ grant call, please refer to the following documents.

1. Information Sheet

2. FAQs

3. SFS 2.0 Research Proposal Form

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

'Research Translation' Grant

The aquaculture, agriculture, and future food sectors hold significant potential for growth and further development to achieve Singapore’s ’30 by 30’ food security vision. 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 for 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 translational R&D of promising agrifood R&D which are at higher technology readiness levels, within specific areas of focus, demonstrating strong potential for commercialisation. Applicants shall address the following challenge statements under the respective domain in their Research Proposals. Applicants could also propose emerging areas not mentioned below if it could significantly contribute towards Singapore meeting the ’30 by 30’ vision.

AQUAPOLIS (AQUACULTURE)

a.      Genetics & Breeding

i. Development of superior fry/ fingerlings for tropical aquaculture species with superior traits (e.g., increase productivity in closed systems by 30%).

b.      Fish Feed & Health; Platform Technology / Facility

i. Improvement of fish feed conversion ratio (FCR) (e.g., from 1.8 to 1.2) at an affordable cost; and

ii. Reduction in fish mortality from key fish diseases (e.g., from 70%-100% to 20-50%).

SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE

a.      Seed Genetics & Breeding for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)

i. Development of seeds with superior traits for CEA (e.g., improve yield by 20%) through faster plant growth.

b.      Sustainability

i. Reduction in average energy consumption for vertical farming (e.g., by 20-30% via optimised lighting recipes and air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation systems).

FUTURE FOODS

a.      Improving Process Development to Enable Future Manufacturing of Alternative Protein (AP)

i. Development of scale-down process and digital twin model to enable improved efficiency and sustainability of AP modalities such as Microbial Proteins or Cultured Meat; and

ii. Development of novel technologies and approaches to improve viability of AP production process (e.g., bioreactor design or optimising use of media).

b.      Strengthening Nutrition & Functionality of AP Products

i. Development of alternative/novel carbohydrates and lipids, and other specialty ingredients to enhance nutrition availability and functionality of AP products and boost consumer acceptance; and

ii. Characterisation and application of impact of in-process modifications to enhance AP functionality.

Eligibility Criteria

Principal Investigators (PI) from all Singapore-based institutions of higher learning (IHLs), public sector agencies and private sector entities, are eligible to apply.

Common FAQs

For enquiries on the ‘Research Translation’ grant call, please refer to the following documents.

1. Information Sheet

2. FAQs

3. SFS 2.0 Research Proposal Form

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

Future Foods Main Grant on Process Development

The future foods sector hold significant potential for growth and further development to achieve Singapore’s '30 by 30' food security vision. 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 for 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 Grant Call

This grant call focuses on promising Future Foods R&D which are at mid-technology readiness levels (TRLs), within specific areas of focus, demonstrating strong potential for commercialisation. Applicants shall address the following desired outcomes in their Research Proposals:

a)           [Cultivated Meat (CM)] Lower cost of cell/growth media: Develop methods for lowering the cost of a major cost driver (e.g., less-expensive growth factors for serum-free growth media)

b)           [Cultivated Meat (CM)] Develop customisable scaffolds to lower costs: Develop CM scaffolds that reduce growth factor requirements and allows for more complex CM products such as better organoleptic properties.

c)           [Cultivated Meat (CM)/ Microbial Protein (MP)] Optimise bioprocessing: Improve bioprocessing for scalable production of CM and MP, including bioreactor designs that are optimised for industrial scale-up for higher yields and throughput and modeling of growth conditions.

Eligibility Criteria

Principal Investigators (PI) from all Singapore-based institutions of higher learning (IHLs), public sector agencies and private sector entities, are eligible to apply.

Common FAQs

For enquiries on the grant call, please refer to the following documents.

1. Information Sheet

2. FAQs

3. SFS 2.0 White Paper Template

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

Other relevant grant call(s) of interest

Enterprise Singapore and A*STAR will be launching a MTC IAF-PP Food Manufacturing Grant (FMG) in Q1 2024. Interested applicants can find more information here.