FAQ

1. The grant application must be jointly submitted by a Singapore-registered company and an Israel-registered company. 
2. Either company must not have more than 20% shareholding in the partnering company. 
3. The joint project must be undertaken in Singapore and Israel, with at least 30% of the actual R&D work done in Singapore and Israel respectively. 
4. Technology and product developed must have potential for commercialization.

The Singapore company should meet the following criteria as well:

1. Is a business entity registered and operating in Singapore
2. Has at least 30% local shareholding, i.e. have at least 30% of its shares held by a Singapore Citizen or PR
3. Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project

Companies are advised to contact SIIRD Managers in the respective countries to find out more about the Application Process.

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.

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.

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

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 approved 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.

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 grant application be approved.

Yes, the grant applicants will have to be registered entities (start-ups and SMEs) in Singapore or Israel.

The Singapore company should also meet the following criteria:

1. Is a business entity registered and operating in Singapore
2. Has at least 30% local shareholding, i.e. have at least 30% of its shares held by a Singapore Citizen or PR
3. Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project

Companies may do so if the other grant 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.

SIIRD supports only travel expenses between Singapore and Israel.

Part of the funding is also extended towards joint commercialization activities in the project. For the R&D Project grant and Pilot Project Grant, up to US$30K is provided per project for joint commercialization activities. Examples of joint commercialization activities are joint participation in trade exhibitions and development of joint marketing collaterals.

Such commercialization activities must be undertaken jointly and the qualifying period for such activities are from project start till 12 months after project completion.

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.

Other qualifying costs include the engagement of consultants for the development of a marketing/commercialization plan and joint commercialization activities.

For more details on the qualifying cost item, applicants can refer to the project budget template found in Guidelines & Templates.

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

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

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

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.

No, he/she cannot be included.

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.

Both companies have to jointly prepare a Full Project Proposal, along with all other necessary supporting documents, for the grant application. Click here for the respective Full Proposal templates for each grant category.

There are 3 steps to the proposal submission process.

First, after deciding to collaborate, companies should 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 can choose to jointly prepare an Executive Summary based on the SIIRD Guidelines. For R&D and Pilot Projects, Please note that the submission of the Executive Summary is optional and companies can choose to skip this step.

Finally, the companies will have to work on the Full Proposal based on the corresponding SIIRD Guidelines and Templates and submit it to SIIRD by the call deadline.

Please refer to the Application Process page for more details.

The type of funding to apply for depends primarily on the technological readiness level of the proposed project.

For projects approved prior to May 2017, the disbursements to companies would be in US Dollars.For projects approved after May 2017, the disbursements to Singapore and Israeli companies would be in local currency i.e. Singapore Dollars and Israeli Shekels respectively.

Yes. Typically, projects that are less than 12 months in duration 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 and are known as the Midpoint and Final disbursements respectively.

Projects that have duration of 12 months or more could enjoy up to 4 disbursements during the project period in the following order stated below. Each disbursement is coupled with a reporting milestone prior to reimbursement of qualified project expenses. For Midpoint and Final disbursements, reimbursement of the qualified project expenses will be carried out after the successful review of each respective milestone.

1. 1st Interim disbursement – Optional
2. Midpoint disbursement – After the 1st half of the project (mandatory)
3. 2nd Interim disbursement – Optional
4. Final disbursement – After project completion (mandatory)

For commercialization activities that occur after project completion, disbursement of the qualified expenses of commercialization activities will be carried out:

1. After 6 months from project completion – Optional
2. After 12 months from project completion (i.e end of qualifying period) – Mandatory, with a commercialization review

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

Companies can submit a partner search request to SIIRD via the Partner Search Request Form. The submitted information will be routed to SIIRD offices in Singapore and Israel. 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.

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