LIFE-SCIENCE RESEARCH (Grants)

LIFE-SCIENCE RESEARCH

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(Grants): **

24.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the life-science funds that have been set aside for life-science programmes and research in the last three years; (b) how much research grants have been awarded to life-science projects in the universities and research institutes over the last three years; and (c) what are the percentages of research grants that have been awarded to engineering and physical science research in relation to life-science research.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Under the current Science and Technology (S&T) Plan for FY2001 to 2005, $1.4 billion has been allocated for public research in biomedical sciences. The split in funding for public research in biomedical sciences, versus engineering and physical sciences, is about 40:60.

A*STAR provides research grants to universities, hospitals, disease centres and research institutes. Over the 3-year period from FY2002 to 2004, the total amount of grants awarded to biomedical research was $726 million.

For the same period of FY2002 to 2004, A*STAR awarded $797 million in grants to research in engineering and physical sciences. Of the total grants awarded during this period, 48% went towards supporting biomedical research, and 52% towards engineering and physical sciences.

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