Singapore, Finland To Fund Sustainable Development, Healthcare, And Wellness Research
Singapore and Finland Renew R&D Ties to Collaborate in Strategic Technological Areas of Interest to both Countries.
Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, announced the first bilateral Joint Call for Proposals (JCP) today in the areas of Sustainable Development and Healthcare, Wellness & Aging.
The JC, which will open till 26 February 2010, is open to scientists from Singapore and Finland.
The JCP is part of the 2nd Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both parties to promote R&D and scientific collaboration in strategic technology areas between Singapore and Finland. The MOU will provide the opportunity for Singapore public sector researchers and scientists from Finnish universities and research institutes to jointly develop technologies of national interests through three annual calls and to participate in joint seminars and symposia to share the latest scientific information and materials. Tekes and A*STAR wish to also see industrial co-operation between the two countries.
One of the outcomes of the MOU included the Innovation Partners’ Symposium held in Finland on 1 December 2009, jointly organised by A*STAR, Tekes and VTT, a leading Finnish contract research organization. The symposium covered the areas of Sustainable Development and Healthcare, Welfare, & Aging, and was well attended by members of the research and business community.
The new engagement between Tekes and A*STAR is built upon three years of joint activities under the original MOU signed in June 2006. Said Director General Veli-Pekka Saarnivaara from Tekes, ”We see major benefits in combining the strong drive for innovation and complementing competences of Singapore and Finland. It is a great opportunity when two countries both investing in knowledge development and innovation join forces.”
Added Professor Chong Tow Chong, Executive Director, Science and Engineering Research Council, A*STAR, “Our experience these past three years collaborating with Tekes has been a positive one, and we look forward to further deepening the level of scientific and technology cooperation between Singapore and Finland. Sustainable Development and Healthcare, Wellness & Aging are issues of national interests to both Finland and Singapore, and we anticipate many cutting-edge and innovative joint research proposals from the call.”
The first MOU A*STAR signed with Tekes provided for three joint workshops and collaborative research projects. Both parties allocated more than S$1.4m (more than €700K) to fund two joint projects. One of the projects under the A*STAR-Finland research collaboration is the online health monitoring platform which can remotely track sleep activity of elderly patients. This has seen a successful trial at a Singapore nursing home, allowing caregivers to monitor and advise their patients from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. Another project, which is on-going, is a scalable multimedia content management and delivery system for different devices to improve the quality of streamed mobile content for a spectrum of mobile networks and systems. When developed, the system will enable mobile content users to enjoy personalised and best-quality access to multimedia no matter what device is used, anytime and anywhere.
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
www.a-star.edu.sg
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and seven consortia & centre, which are located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their immediate vicinity.
A*STAR supports Singapore’s key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other local and international partners.
About Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation
www.tekes.fi
Tekes is the main public financing and expert organisation for research, technological development and innovation in Finland. Tekes promotes a broad-based view on innovation: besides funding technological breakthroughs, Tekes emphasises the significance of service-related, design, business, and social innovations.
Tekes especially promotes innovative, risk-intensive projects. The Tekes programmes are a gateway to the best technology companies and researchers in Finland. Besides funding the programmes offer a forum for the exchange of information and networking.
Tekes head office is based in Helsinki. Tekes has also six offices abroad: Beijing and Shanghai in China, Tokyo in Japan, Silicon Valley and Washington D.C in the United States and Brussels in Europe.
Applying to the first A*STAR-Tekes Joint Call for Proposals
For more information about applying to the above grant, please access the following links:
Singapore-based researchers: http://www.a-star.edu.sg/?TabId=236
Finland-based researchers: http://www.tekes.fi/fi/community/Hakuajat/472/Hakuajat/1319
Topics: A*Star, aging, bilateral Joint Call for Proposals, business, Finland, Governance, government, health care, Health Care, healthcare, information, innovation, Innovation Partners’ Symposium, JCP, memorandum of understanding, MOU, Public Sector, R&D, research, science, Singapore, sustainable development, technology, Tekes, university, VTT, wellness
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