NHG Health Clinician Scientist Fellowship (CSF)

Introduction

The NHG Health Clinician Scientist Fellowship (CSF) aims to nurture and develop clinician scientists by supporting them with a formal research training programme leading to PhD. The CSF provides top-up funding to successful National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Research Training Fellowship (RTF) awards to ensure clinicians are adequately supported for the PhD.

Key Features of Award

Applicants are required to maximise the budget in their NMRC RTF applications to include necessary support such as tuition fees, salary support for research FTE committed to PhD, overseas conference, etc.
The CSF provides top-up for the following fundable items after accounting for the support received under the NMRC RTF award.

1. Tuition fees, for up to 4 years

2. Salary support for research FTE, for up to 3 years

   • Clinical FTE will continue to be provided by NHG Health Host Institution

   • Annual salary cap by awardee’s clinical designation will apply for NHG Health Group Office’s contribution (Table 1). NHG Health Host Institution will need to top-up the difference if the salary cap is exceeded.

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

The Clinician Scientist Review Committee (CSRC) could recommend exceptional candidates for the prestigious NHG Health-LKCMedicine Academic Health System (AHS) Fellowship to be jointly supported by NHG Health and LKCMedicine. The AHS Fellowship could cover full tuition fees through the LKCMedicine PhD Scholarship, in addition to salary support for research FTE.

Both the CSF and NMRC RTF do not provide project funding. Applicants are required to secure this component separately.

Eligibility

Applicants should hold a primary appointment at NHG Health institutions. Residents in their final year of the NHG Health Residency Programme will be required to submit additional documents indicating continuation in NHG Health.

All applicants should also fulfil the eligibility of the following:
a) NMRC Research Training Fellowship (RTF); and
b) LKCMedicine PhD by Research Programme.

The applicant’s Department should be able to make provisions for the applicant’s research commitments during the course of PhD and continue to facilitate his/her career pathway as a clinician scientist beyond.

LKCMedicine PhD by Research Programme

Emphasising innovation, collaboration and excellence, the LKCMedicine PhD by Research programme aims to cultivate the next generation of pioneering researchers and leaders in medical science, by providing a transformative educational experience where cutting-edge research and medical knowledge advance. For more information, please visit the School's webpage.

Students are expected to commit approximately 0.5FTE - 0.8FTE towards the PhD to complete the programme in 4 years. The PhD candidature is a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years.

Applicant must nominate a main supervisor and may nominate up to two co-supervisors who fulfil the criteria below.

Main supervisor

• A main PhD supervisor must hold a full-time primary faculty appointment at LKCMedicine (Full Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor); and

• A main PhD supervisor must have a PhD degree or an equivalent doctoral research degree; and

• A main PhD supervisor should possess a strong foundation and knowledge in research.

Co-supervisor

• A co-supervisor for a PhD student must have a PhD degree or equivalent doctoral research degree; and

• NTU faculty who are Full Professors, Associate Professors, or Assistant Professors, including those with joint, adjunct, or visiting appointments, qualify; or

• A co-supervisor may also be from another school or from outside NTU, provided they are a full-time faculty member.

• A co-supervisor should possess a strong foundation and knowledge in research.

• Appointments that do not fulfill the above criteria may be considered and approved by Dean, Graduate College in consultation with the Deans of Academic Colleges on a case-by-case basis.

At least one supervisor (Main or Co-) should have PhD supervisory experience.

Postdoctoral fellows do not qualify for appointment as co-supervisors.

Bond Period

Students are required to serve a bond of up to 5 years with their respective NHG Health Host Institution upon completion of the PhD training. Bond duration will be commensurated with amount of salary support provided by CSF. For students receiving sponsorship from CSF and NMRC RTF for their PhD programme, the CSF institutional bond* will run concurrent to the NMRC RTF government bond upon completion of the PhD training.
*Please refer to NHG Health HR Policy (NHG-HR-H5 Training Bond & Minimum Service Period (MSP)) for guidelines.

Submission

The Call for Applications is open throughout the year. Please contact the CSF Secretariat to indicate your interest in applying for the CSF.

Past Awardees

Download the list of past CSF awardees.

Contact Information

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

Ms Adeline Chan
Clinician Scientist Development Office
Group Research and Innovation, NHG Health
Tel: (65) 6038 3631
Email: adeline.mx.chan@nhghealth.com.sg

Ms Nicole Yap
Clinician Scientist Development Office
Group Research and Innovation, NHG Health
Tel: (65) 6038 3632
Email: nicole.yx.yap@nhghealth.com.sg