Project Qualification

1. What are the main eligibility criteria to fulfil for the application?

The application must be jointly submitted by a Singapore-registered company and an Israel-registered company. Either company must not have more than 20% shareholding in the partnering company. The R&D work must be conducted both in Singapore and Israel by the respective partners, and each company must contribute at least 30% of the total R&D work.

The proposed product or technology to be co-funded by SIIRD must be commercializable.

2. What are the evaluation criteria?

Projects are evaluated on various aspects ranging from the collaborative relationship of the companies to the innovation of the project, and the market need for the proposed product. The guidelines and templates will assist the companies in providing relevant information.

3. What does it mean by "At least 30% of the actual R&D work must be done in Singapore as well as in Israel?"

In terms of the project contribution, each partner is expected to contribute at least 30% of the total project work and total project expenses. The collaborative relationship should be as balanced as possible to ensure fair contribution and benefits to each partner.

4. Do start-ups qualify for SIIRD funding?

The application is open to any registered Singapore and Israel Companies as long as the main eligibility criteria, as stated above, are met.

5. What types of R&D project does SIIRD co-fund?

SIIRD is open to project applications from any industry but defence-related project cannot be co-funded by SIIRD. Interested applicants can refer to the list of SIIRD funded projects to have an idea of the types of project that SIIRD has co-funded so far. Note that the list gives a general idea on the types of projects SIIRD co-funds, but it does not necessarily limit the project applications to the listed technological areas.

6. Can we submit our proposal to SIIRD if the project has already started?

Yes and it depends on the proposal submission deadline. The SIIRD program’s objective is to promote R&D collaboration to develop market-driven products and technologies. In principle, we may allow companies to back date their claims for qualified project expenses up to 1 month before the actual proposal submission date should the application be approved.

7. Must the applicants be registered companies?

Yes, the applicants will have to be registered entities in Singapore or Israel.

8. Can we apply for SIIRD co-funding if we have already received a grant from another government agency?

Companies may do so if the other funding received was for different R&D activities. Note that any resources that are already funded by other government agencies shall not be funded under the SIIRD program.

Project Budget

1. Are travel expenses to other countries during the project duration supported under the SIIRD Program?

SIIRD supports only travel expenses between Singapore and Israel.

2. Are commercialization expenses supported by SIIRD?

SIIRD will only co-fund R&D related expenses.

3. What types of qualifying costs are eligible for funding support?

The qualifying cost items include direct R&D manpower, expendable materials & supplies, consultancy services, subcontractors, travel expenses between Singapore and Israel, and the depreciation or leasing costs of capital equipment essential to the project.

For more details on the qualifying cost item, applicants can refer to the project budget template.

4. Does the employee involved in the project have to be a Singapore/Israel citizen for the Singapore/Israel company?

It is not necessary, however, they have to come under the direct payroll of the company.

5. Can employees involved in another funded project take part in SIIRD-funded project?

Yes, however, the total time involved in both funded projects should not exceed 100% of their total working hours.

6. How do we inform SIIRD if there are changes in the manpower involved in the project?

Companies may inform the SIIRD team, followed by filling up the Amendment Request Form upon submission of the Fiscal Report (Interim/Final).

7. How do I determine if an employee can be classified as direct manpower?

He/she has to be a permanent employee paid directly by the company and not through its subsidiaries or any other third parties. He/she shall work on the technical aspects of the project and be based in the country where the company is registered.

8. Can the R&D staff of an overseas branch/subsidiary be included in the project budget?

No, he/she cannot be included.

9. My company's project is co-funded by SIIRD. Can my company claim the project expenses if the payments are made by the sister company/subsidiary?

Only qualified expenses made by the participating company are reimbursable. Companies are required to submit claims supporting documents for SIIRD's verification and SIIRD will only recognise supporting documents bearing the name of the company whose project is co-funded.

Application Procedure

1. What do we need to submit for the application?

SIIRD will require an Executive Summary first, followed by a Full Project Proposal jointly prepared by both companies for the application. The guidelines and templates for the Executive Summary and Full Project Proposal can be found at the Proposal Submission Page.

2. When is the next submission deadline?

The next proposal submission deadline for project proposal submission can be found here.

3. What are the steps for submitting the application?

There are 3 steps to the proposal submission process. First, after deciding to collaborate, companies shall arrange meetings with the SIIRD Managers in their respective countries to understand more about the SIIRD Program and to share with SIIRD the project they have in mind. Second, if SIIRD is receptive to the project proposal, the companies shall follow up with an Executive Summary based on the SIIRD Guidelines. Finally, the companies will work on the Full Proposal based on the SIIRD Guidelines and submit to SIIRD.

Please refer to the Proposal Submission page for more details of the proposal submission process.

4. Which type of funding should we apply for?

The type of funding to apply for depends primarily on the Total Project Expenses. For Total Project Expenses below USD 200K, the companies can apply for the Mini R&D Funding. For Total Project Expenses above USD 200K, the companies may apply for the Full Scale R&D Funding.

Others

1. Is SIIRD funding on reimbursement basis?

Yes. Typically, each approved project will have 2 reporting milestones. The first milestone is scheduled to be in the middle of the project duration and the second milestone is at the project completion date. The reimbursement of the qualified project expenses will be carried out after the successful review of each milestone.

2. How should the IP rights and commercialization rights be split between the companies?

The arrangement of IP sharing and commercialization rights shall be determined by the companies themselves.

3. How can we find R&D partners through SIIRD?

Companies can submit a partner search request to SIIRD at the Partner Search Request page. The submitted information will be routed to SIIRD offices in Singapore and Israel respectively. Based on the information provided, SIIRD team will identify suitable R&D partners and introduce them to the requesting company usually via email.

In order to facilitate effective partner search process, we encourage companies to provide specific information on the type of project they wish to work on and the desirable profile of the R&D partners they wish to work with.

4. Can we apply for more than one project?

SIIRD is open to discuss multiple applications from one company provided that the company has adequate resources to undertake multiple projects.