Talent Development

The NHG CMTi Clinician Innovator Preparatory Programme Plus (CiPP+) aims to encourage clinicians to participate in Health Technology (HealthTech) innovation to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes for their patients. The programme would also prepare them to compete successfully for the Singapore Biodesign (SB) Innovation Fellowship Programme or National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Transition Award (TA) / Clinician Innovator Award (CIA) within the next 2-3 years and further build his/her career in HealthTech innovation.

 

 

 

1. Applicants should be:

a) Doctors (i.e. clinically qualified with MD/MBBS/BDS) with primary appointments at NHG institutions;

OR

b) Health science / healthcare professionals with non-medical degrees, such as nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professions with primary appointments at NHG institutions.

 

2. All applicants should also fulfil the following criteria:

a) Have completed the NHG Clinician Innovator Preparatory Programme (CiPP) or demonstrate equivalent level of competency in foundational training in HealthTech innovation

 

b) Is a clinician Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI or Co-Investigator (Co-I) of an ongoing or new HealthTech innovation project that has been awarded or pending outcomes of competitive grant funding¹; and/or is in collaboration with industry partner(s). 

The project or grant term must have at least one year remaining at the point of CiPP+ application without a request for grant extension.

 

c) Demonstrate interest in HealthTech innovation and intention to develop himself/herself as a Clinician Innovator (CI).

 

3. Awardees and applicants of NMRC Human Capital Awards and Talent Development

Programmes such as Transition Award (TA), Clinician Innovator Award (CIA), Clinician Scientist Award (CSA), HPHSR CSA (HCSA) and Singapore Translational Research Investigator Award (STaR), will not be eligible for the CiPP+.

 

4. As awardees are expected to apply for the Singapore Biodesign (SB) Innovation Fellowship Programme or equivalent, NMRC TA or CIA within one year from the end of their CiPP+ award period, applicants should ensure they are able to fulfil the latest eligibility criteria for the respective programme.

 

5. The applicant’s Department should be able to make provisions for the applicant’s commitments towards HealthTech innovation during the CiPP+ award period (if awarded), and continue to facilitate his/her career pathway as a Clinician Innovator beyond the CiPP+ award.

 

 

 

 

1. Each awardee will receive a funding quantum up to S$40,000, for up to 2 years to cover:

a) Salary support for innovation of up to 0.1 FTE, with an applicable annual salary cap by clinician’s clinical designation (Table 1); 

- NHG Host Institution will need to top up the difference if the awardee’s salary exceeds the applicable annual salary cap.

- Salary support will cover the total annual compensation, inclusive of salaries, CPF, fringe benefits, as well as bonus / incentive payments.

b) Local or overseas conferences/ trainings and related travel expenses;

c) Services and expertise related to the innovation project such as biostatistics, bioinformatics, data analysis and management; and/or

d) Other related support costs that help in the innovation project. 

 

 

2. The CiPP+ funding is not applicable to cover any direct costs related to the innovation project or routine clinical care or services. 

 

3. There should be an ongoing innovation project for the CiPP+ award to apply. At point of CiPP+ award announcement:

• For projects that are ongoing/have started, awardees may determine the preferred start date within 3 months from award announcement;

• For projects pending grant application outcomes, award commencement will be aligned with subsequent start date of collaboration / project agreement. 

 

4. The funding would cease once the innovation collaboration / project agreement term ends or upon the 2-year award period, whichever is earlier. Award renewal is generally not allowable.

 

 

 

Each applicant is required to nominate a mentor who is an institution representative on the NHG CMTi Committee (refer to Information Sheet). The CiPP Secretariat may help to facilitate the matching of appropriate mentor if required.

 

Each applicant will receive mentorship in the following areas:

a) Guidance in their clinician innovator career development 

b) Advice on their innovation project

c) Navigation to appropriate innovation resources

d) Engagement in institution or NHG cluster level innovation activities and initiatives

 

Applicants may propose other qualified NHG mentor(s) that is not part of the NHG CMTi Committee, with justifications and, subject to approval. 

 

During the award, awardees will be granted access to the subject matter experts on an adhoc basis in area(s) of their own interest. Proposed topic areas may include venture building, medical technology development cycle, medical device regulatory affairs, intellectual property, etc. This will be subsequently facilitated by NHG CMTi. 

 

 

 

The Call for Applications is open throughout the year. Please contact the CiPP Secretariat to indicate your interest in applying for the CiPP+ and to obtain the application package.

 

Interested clinicians are strongly encouraged to contact the CiPP Secretariat for discussion on suitability of the programme prior to submitting an application. 

 

 

 

This document contains important information about the objective of the programme, award components, eligibility, application procedure, evaluation criteria and expected deliverables etc., and should be read carefully before proceeding to apply.  

 

Please click here to download the Information Sheet.

 

 

 

For more information and further enquiries, please contact the CiPP Secretariat:

 

Clinician Scientist Development Office

NHG Group Research

Tel: (65) 6340 2414

Email: Adeline_MX_CHAN@nhg.com.sg

 

Clinician Scientist Development Office

NHG Group Research

Tel: (65) 6496 6021 

Email: Valerie_Mh_YEO@nhg.com.sg