Successful EDB-IPP trainees will be full-time salaried employees at the company while pursuing full-time PhD studies at SUTD. Trainees are expected to spend at least 50% of their time on an identified company research project (supervised by a team comprising 1 academic faculty from SUTD and 1 company staff with PhD qualifications) at the company’s facility.
EDB-IPP Trainee Eligibility
- Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Eligible for full-time PhD studies
- Jointly selected by SUTD and company
Sponsorship Terms (for 4 years) by EDB and Company
- Full SUTD PhD Programme tuition fees
- Financial reimbursement of IPP trainee's monthly basic salary (85% of monthly salary capped at S$3,500 and employer's CPF contribution)
- Co-sharing of research grants to SUTD (capped at S$25,000 per Doctoral Student / S$12,500 per MEng student per year
How to Apply
- New hires or existing employees of interested companies are to apply online for entry into the SUTD PhD Programme
Interested companies will jointly scope research projects with identified SUTD faculty, before putting in an IPP application for EDB’s approval.
Eligibility as an IPP Partner
- Local or multinational companies based in Singapore
- Have an established corporate research and development (R&D) lab in Singapore with a sizeable team of PhD researchers
- Identified suitable PhD-level company R&D leaders to be supervisors for the IPP trainees
- Good record of research activities/projects
- Commitment to support IPP trainee for a period of 4 years leading to the attainment of a PhD in SUTD
Contractual Agreement & Intellectual Property Arrangements
Companies will work with the Office of Research and Industry Collaborations, SUTD to formulate a contractual agreement for each research project undertaken by the IPP trainee, company and SUTD.
The agreement will include clauses related to salary, tuition fees, the extent of commitment by all involved parties, conference travel, insurance, publications, consumables, utilisation of equipment and any other indirect costs which may arise during the IPP.
The company and SUTD will also need to agree on Intellectual Property (IP) arrangements arising from the projects undertaken by the IPP trainees.
Support from EDB for Companies (up to 4 years)
- IPP trainee’s full tuition fees
- IPP trainee’s monthly basic salary (capped at S$3,300 and employer’s CPF contribution) - company has complete flexibility to peg the IPP trainee’s salary to the prevailing economic conditions
- Co-sharing of research grants to SUTD (capped at S$12,500 per student per year)
Companies who wish to participate in the IPP can email EDB for more information.