Translating Research into Highest Quality Patient Care

NHG-LKCMedicine Clinician-Scientist Career Scheme (CSCS)


The Clinician-Scientist Career Scheme (CSCS) is a research manpower development programme jointly offered by NHG and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine). It aims to develop research capabilities of clinicians to transform patient care through competitive research and enable them to compete successfully for the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Transition Award (TA)/Clinician Scientist Award (CSA) within the next 2-3 years and further build his/her research career.

 

Eligibility

1. Applicants should be: 

a) Doctors (i.e. clinically qualified with MBBS/MD/BDS) with primary appointments of at least Associate Consultant at NHG institutions.
OR
b) Health science/healthcare professionals with non-medical degrees, such as nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professions listed on MOH’s website in clinical practice, with primary appointments at NHG institutions and have at least 7 years of clinical or research experience . Clinical post-graduate qualification would be an advantage. 
 
2. All applicants should also fulfil the following criteria:
a) Has a research PhD
b) Has a good publication track record in peer-reviewed journals
c) The CSCS research project should be relevant to the research themes of NHG and LKCMedicine. (Eligible applicants who do not meet this criteria may contact the CSCS Secretariat for further discussion on suitability of the scheme.)
 
3. On an exceptional basis, an applicant without a PhD could be considered if he/she is committed to enrol into the LKCMedicine PhD programme during the CSCS award period. 
 
4. As awardees are expected to apply to NMRC TA/CSA by the end of their CSCS award period, applicants should take note of the latest eligibility criteria for the respective national talent development scheme and ensure that he/she is able to meet them. 
 
5. Interested clinicians are strongly encouraged to contact the CSCS Secretariat for discussion on suitability of the Programme prior to submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI).
 
6. Applicants are required to seek endorsements for their applications from their Reporting Officer (RO), Head of Department (HOD), Director/Chief/Head of Family Group (applicable for nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professions listed on MOH’s website only) and Director of Research (DOR).
 
7. The applicant’s Department should be able to make provisions for the applicant’s research commitments during the CSCS award period (if awarded), and continue to facilitate his/her career pathway as a clinician-scientist beyond the CSCS award.

 

Mentorship
 
Each applicant is required to nominate a mentor from NHG and a mentor from LKCMedicine (subject to approval by the review committee) to guide them in their research career and project. The CSCS Secretariat may assist in the nomination of appropriate mentor(s) where required. 
 
The mentor should be an established clinician scientist or clinical scientist who:
a) Is involved in research with significant impact on clinical care;
b) Has had experience as Principal investigator (PI) in a relevant area of research; 
c) Has strong foundation and knowledge in research methodology and conduct;
d) Has obtained intramural/extramural grant(s) during the past 5 years;
e) Has an established research track record; and
f) Has had experience in supervising or providing research mentorship to junior investigators or peers.
 
 
Award Components
 
i. Project funding quantum up to S$180,000, for up to 3 years; and
ii. Salary support of up to 0.4FTE for up to 3 years, with an applicable annual salary cap by clinician’s clinical designation (Table 1).
iii. Host institution will need to top up the difference if the awardee’s salary exceeds the applicable annual salary cap.
iv. Salary support will cover the total annual compensation, inclusive of salaries, CPF, fringe benefits, as well as bonus / incentive payments.

Application Period

Applicants are required to submit all application documents (Table 2) in softcopy to the CSCS Secretariat at NHG Group Research through their Institution’s Clinical Research Unit (CRU)/Clinical Research and Innovation Office (CRIO)

The Institution’s CRU/CRIO will set respective internal deadlines for the above submissions. Please check with your institutions for these deadlines. The Institution’s CRU/CRIO will ensure that the respective documents reach the CSCS Secretariat by the stipulated deadlines. Applications submitted after the call closing date and time will not be considered.  

FY2023 NHG-LKCMedicine CSCS Information Sheet

This document contains important information about the objective of the scheme, award components, eligibility, application procedure, evaluation criteria and expected deliverables etc., and should be read carefully before proceeding to apply.  
 
Click here to download the Information Sheet.
 
 
FY2023 NHG-LKCMedicine CSCS Application Package
 
The application package consists of templates for the following documents:
 
1. Information Sheet;
2. Letter of Intent (LOI);
3. Application Form;
4. Budget Breakdown Form;
5. Application Checklist (For reference only); and
6. NHG Research Funding Guidelines (For reference only).
 
Click here to download the Application Package. 
 
 
Contact Information
 
For more information and further enquiries, please contact the CSCS Secretariat:
 
Ms Nicole Yap
Clinician Scientist Development Office 
NHG Group Research
Tel: (65) 6496 6201

 

Ms Adeline Chan
Tel: (65) 6340 2414