MTC - YOUNG INVESTIGATOR RESEARCH GRANT (YIRG)
About the Grant
The Manufacturing, Trade & Connectivity Young Individual Research Grant (MTC YIRG) supports Singapore-based, early‑career researchers for independent, curiosity-driven research in physical sciences and engineering areas.
Funding of up to S$325,000 per project (inclusive of 30% indirect costs) is available for a project duration of up to three years.
Proposals will be solicited through a grant call mechanism.
The list of projects awarded under the MTC YIRG Grant Call can be found here.
Eligibility
| Criteria | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Academic qualification | PhD (not more than 7 years post-PhD) |
| Employment | PI must hold a primary appointment of at least 75% in a local publicly funded institute (E.g. Minimum of 9 month's employment (per year) with a local òòò½ÍøInstitution throughout project duration) Team PI/Co-Investigator (Co-I) must hold an appointment in a local publicly funded institution |
| Past funding | Awardees of the following grants will not be eligible for MTC YIRG (non-exhaustive list)
|
| No. of submissions | Applicants are only allowed to submit one application per call as a PI |
Open to all public research performers in Singapore
| Host Institute | Quota |
| National University of òòò½Íø(NUS) | 15 |
| Nanyang Technological University (NTU) | 15 |
| A*STAR Research Entities | 15 |
| Public Sector Research Performers/ Other Institute of Higher Learning (IHLs) Institute | 2 |
Institutional quota applies for each grant call: 15 each from NUS, NTU and A*STAR Research Entities, and 2 from other IHLs/public sector organisations.
Applications must be endorsed by the Host Institution’s Research Director or equivalent prior to submission.
Application Procedure
The 2026 MTC YIRG grant call opens on 5 May 2026 and closes on 23 June 2026, 11:59 pm (òòò½ÍøStandard Time). All applications should be submitted through the A*STAR's Grants Management system (IGrants) .
Details can be found below:
- Information Deck
- Application Guide
- FAQ
- Proposal Template
- A*STAR Terms and Conditions 2020
- A*STAR Guidelines 2020
- MTC Focus Areas
Applications must be endorsed by the Host Institute's Research Director or equivalent prior to submission.
Please refer to this guide for Milestone & Benchmark Settings.
For Enquiries
For further clarifications, please contact irg_mtc@a-star.edu.sg.
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