Call for Proposals: Grant Call 1

The TREASURES (Towards Resource Efficiency And Sustainability for URban EnvironmentS) Research Centre is pleased to announce our inaugural Grant Call. TREASURES supports R&D projects that address Singapore’s critical waste management challenges. This initiative aims to advance science and innovation in residue and toxic industrial waste management, enabling longer-term goals, including transforming Semakau Landfill to into a future-ready resource recovery hub that prioritises resource recovery and value creation over permanent disposal.

For the current grant cycle, proposals are invited under two focus areas:

• Node 2: Landfill Transformation: Develop innovative solutions for material circularity and landfill redesign, prioritising repurposing and valorisation of incineration fly ash (IFA), non‑incinerable waste (NIW), and mixed materials (MM), with applications in construction, coastal protection, land reclamation, and other value‑added uses. Research on incineration bottom ash (IBA) is a lower priority.
  
  
• Node 3: Toxic Industrial Waste (TIW) Solutions: Innovative treatment, recovery or process technologies to minimise TIW generation, enable resource recovery, and provide low‑carbon alternatives to conventional treatment pathways, including advanced treatment/stabilisation and recovery of valuable metals, minerals, solvents and chemicals.

Please refer to the Request for Proposals (RFP) document for the detailed scope and deliverables for each focus area.

Seed

For Proof-of-Concept (POC), feasibility studies, and quick sense-making. Seed funding offers a funding quantum up to S$90,000, supporting projects of duration up to 12 months.

Catalyst

To accelerate innovation in strategic areas; novel ideas with potential for scale-up. Catalyst funding offers a funding quantum up to S$500,000, supporting projects of duration up to 2 years.

Partnership

To address specific industry challenges; focus on translation and implementation (Technology Readiness Levels 5–8 – refer to Request for Proposals document Appendix A).

Core

For long-term strategic challenges addressing fundamental knowledge gaps.

Please refer to the Request for Proposals (RFP) document for the details on the various funding modalities.

Eligibility

The grant call is open to all Institutes of Higher Learning, research institutes, and companies. It will support projects that advance novel, practical, scalable solutions for residue and toxic industrial waste management, with research activities conducted in Singapore to build local capabilities and strengthen collaboration across academia, industry, and government agencies. Collaborative proposals involving multiple institutions and/or industry partners are encouraged where they strengthen the scientific excellence, translational potential or implementation pathway of the project.

Submission Guideline

• Proposals shall be submitted through email to [email protected] before the closing date and time, by filling in Annex D.1 (Simplified TREASURES Proposal Template) for seed and catalyst funding applicants, OR Annex D.2 (Full TREASURES Proposal Template) for core and partnership funding applicants.


• Together with Annex D.1 or Annex D2, filled in copies of Annex E (CV template) should be submitted for each principal investigator, co-principal investigator, applicant, co-applicant, or project team member.


• Applicants from private sector entities are required to fill in Annex F (Additional Declaration Form for Private Sector Applicant(s)]), as part of the proposal application.

Received proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:

S/N	Evaluation Criterion	Weightage (%)
1	Effectiveness in achieving desired outcomes: Relevance of proposed scope, Technical feasibility of the proposed methodologies, Innovativeness of the proposed methodologies	25
2	Competencies of the research team: Track record of Principal Investigator(s) and collaborators, Relevant R&D capabilities and expertise of the Principal Investigator and team members	15
3	Project management (clarity of proposed milestones, deliverables, implementation schedule), budget reasonableness, and cost-effectiveness of proposed solution	30
4	Translation pathway and commercialisation: Clear pathway for scaling and adoption, Potential for industry collaboration and partnerships, Commercial viability and alignment with national resource circularity and sustainability goals	30

 

This inaugural TREASURES grant call is open for applications from 17 June 2026 until 17  August 2026, 17:00 SGT.