$25m for polys to grow fruits of research

THE Government has set aside $25 million to fund the five polytechnics' efforts in bringing research findings by universities and government institutes a step closer to becoming commercial products.

Over the next five years, the polys can get up to $500,000 in funds for each project of this kind.

At least 10 such projects will be funded by the Translational Research and Development grant every year, with funding lasting up to two years.

This initiative by the National Research Foundation (NRF) is a nod to the polytechnics' links to industry, which has made them sharper than the universities in spotting commercial possibilities in research findings.

Said NRF chief executive Francis Yeoh of this first research funding programme tailored for the polytechnics: 'The aim of this grant is not to make something that can be sold in a shop at the end of the grant period.

'We are not expecting the projects to be commercialised at the end of the grant period, but to do something to bring them closer to the market.'

This may involve making applications more ready for the market, or making them more attractive for companies to take up and develop further.

Polytechnics, universities and the national Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) all responded positively to yesterday's announcement of the grant.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic principal Chia Mia Chiang said it was a boost for the polytechnics' research and human capabilities.

And Singapore Polytechnic's principal Tan Hang Cheong called it 'a recognition of the role polys play in the R&D ecosystem in Singapore'.

It is the polytechnics' very understanding of the needs of industry and small- and medium- sized enterprises which the universities and A*Star research institutes want to tap.

Mr Yap Chew Loong, executive vice- president and general manager of A*Star's commercial arm Exploit Technologies, said that when research leads to the setting up of a company to commercialise the findings, the prototypes already created often need fine-tuning and trial runs to make them ready for the market.

For example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic is working with Exploit Technologies to find a fast, cheap way to detect bacteria in water.

Partnerships among the polytechnics, universities and A*Star to commercialise research has been ongoing, but it has been on an ad hoc basis.

The entrepreneurial wing of the National University of Singapore (NUS), called NUS Enterprise, signed a master agreement with the five polytechnics last year to formalise such partnerships.

The NRF's latest funding programme makes these partnerships more systematic, said the polytechnics and universities.

An intellectual property roadshow next month will create a meeting place for the universities and research institutes to showcase their research and court potential partners among the polytechnics.