NRF Fellowship (Singapore): Eligibility & Value

The NRF Fellowship (NRFF) is Singapore’s flagship early-career independent-investigator award, administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore. This page is part of CASRAI’s NRF Singapore funding series and focuses specifically on the Fellowship: who is eligible, what it funds, how it is reviewed and selected, and how the application process works. For the broader NRF agency structure, governance, and its full suite of funding pillars, see our NRF Singapore funding overview.

What the NRF Fellowship Is

The NRF Fellowship gives early-career researchers of any nationality the opportunity to lead independent research in Singapore over a five-year period. It is open to all areas of science and technology, and NRF describes the scheme as being for “outstanding young scientists and researchers” rather than being restricted to a particular discipline. Fellows are not attached to an existing principal investigator’s lab as postdoctoral staff — the award is explicitly structured to fund independent research leadership, closer in intent to a starting-independent-investigator award (comparable in structural purpose, though not identical in mechanics, to schemes such as the postdoctoral fellowship stage that typically precedes it, or the US NIH K99/R00 pathway) than to a standard postdoctoral fellowship or a co-investigator role on someone else’s grant. (Source: NRF, NRF Fellowship.)

Eligibility Criteria

Per NRF’s official Fellowship page, eligibility centers on career stage rather than nationality or institutional affiliation at the time of application:

Post-PhD experience: applicants must have no more than seven years of post-PhD research experience at the time of application.
Nationality: open to researchers of all nationalities — there is no citizenship or permanent-residency restriction.
Field of research: open to all areas of science and technology; the scheme is not restricted to a named priority sector.
Career stage: the scheme targets researchers ready to lead their own independent research program, not those seeking a mentored or supervised postdoctoral position.

Because host institutions run a longlisting step before candidates reach NRF-level review (see Selection Process below), applicants should also check whether a specific host institution imposes its own additional internal eligibility screen — CASRAI could not verify a single, host-institution-independent published eligibility bar beyond NRF’s own criteria above, so administrators should confirm host-specific requirements directly with the relevant institution’s research office.

Funding Value and Duration

Each Fellowship supports independent research over a five-year period. Based on NRF’s published Fellowship materials and consistent with the terms used in host-institution grant-call announcements for the most recent call round (Class of 2026), the funding quantum is S$3.25 million inclusive of 30% Indirect Research Cost (IRC) over the five-year term. The research grant is intended to cover personnel, equipment, and consumables costs for the Fellow’s independent research program. CASRAI flags this figure as sourced from NRF’s official page together with corroborating host-institution grant-call material rather than a figure we independently re-derived — administrators relying on it for budget planning should confirm the current quantum directly against the live NRF Fellowship page before citing it in a proposal, since funding quanta for national schemes are periodically revised between call rounds.

Host Institutions

NRF Fellows take up tenure-track (or equivalent independent-investigator) positions at one of a defined set of host institutions in Singapore. Per NRF’s official Fellowship page, these are:

Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Duke-NUS Medical School
Singapore Management University (SMU)
Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL)
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)

A Fellow’s award is tied to a host institution, which is where the longlisting stage of selection originates — a candidate typically needs a prospective host institution willing to put them forward before NRF-level review begins.

Selection and Review Process

NRF describes a three-step selection process:

Longlisting — carried out by prospective host institutions in Singapore, which identify and put forward candidates.
Shortlisting — NRF reviews longlisted candidates and narrows the pool.
Final selection — shortlisted candidates are invited to Singapore for a final interview before the NRF Fellowship Evaluation Panel.

NRF also notes that it proactively taps local research organizations and its own contacts to identify potential candidates, alongside the standard call-for-applications route — so a prospective Fellow does not necessarily need to originate their own application entirely unprompted; institutional research offices and department heads are also a route into the longlisting stage.

Application Timeline and Process

NRF invites applications once a year. Recent call rounds have been publicly referenced by name (for example, host institutions have advertised a “Class of 2026” NRF Fellowship call), which indicates NRF continues to run the scheme on a named-cohort, annual-call basis; CASRAI could not independently verify a fixed month or exact recurring deadline from NRF’s own page, so administrators should treat the annual-call cadence as confirmed but the specific opening/closing dates as varying by round — check the current call announcement on NRF’s Fellowship page directly. Applicants and host institutions manage the application itself through Singapore’s national Integrated Grant Management System (IGMS), which NRF’s Fellowship page directs applicants to for the current application materials and portal access.

How the NRF Fellowship Differs from NRF’s Other Schemes

The NRF Fellowship is one of several funding pillars NRF administers — the NRF Singapore funding overview covers the full set. Two adjacent NRF schemes worth distinguishing here:

NRF Investigatorship — a separate, more senior NRF award track (distinct eligibility and career-stage focus from the Fellowship; see NRF’s own NRF Investigatorship page for its specific criteria, which CASRAI has not verified in the depth needed to state them here).
A*STAR’s own postdoctoral and international fellowship programs — A*STAR is one of the eight NRF Fellowship host institutions, but it also runs its own separate fellowship programs for its research institutes; see CASRAI’s A*STAR funding and scholarships overview for how those relate to, and differ from, the NRF Fellowship.

For research administrators, the practical distinction is host relationship and independence level: the NRF Fellowship places an independent PI at a host institution under NRF-level review and funding, while a host institution’s own internal fellowship programs are administered and funded through that institution directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for the NRF Fellowship?

Early-career researchers of any nationality with no more than seven years of post-PhD research experience, in any field of science and technology, who are prepared to lead independent research at one of NRF’s eight designated host institutions in Singapore.

How much funding does the NRF Fellowship provide?

NRF’s Fellowship page and recent host-institution call announcements describe a funding quantum of S$3.25 million (inclusive of 30% Indirect Research Cost) over the five-year award period. Confirm the current figure against NRF’s live Fellowship page, since quanta can be revised between call rounds.

How long does an NRF Fellowship last?

Five years.

How do I apply for an NRF Fellowship?

NRF invites applications once a year. A candidate generally needs a prospective host institution to put them forward at the longlisting stage; from there, NRF conducts shortlisting and a final interview before the NRF Fellowship Evaluation Panel. Applications are managed through Singapore’s Integrated Grant Management System (IGMS).

Is the NRF Fellowship the same as a postdoctoral fellowship?

No. It is structured to fund independent research leadership rather than a mentored postdoctoral position — Fellows take up tenure-track or equivalent independent-investigator positions at a host institution, not staff roles within an existing PI’s lab.

Which institutions can host an NRF Fellow?

A*STAR, NUS, NTU, Duke-NUS Medical School, SMU, SUTD, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, and the Singapore Institute of Technology.

Related CASRAI Resources

Sources: National Research Foundation, Singapore, NRF Fellowship and NRF Investigatorship program pages (nrf.gov.sg), corroborated where noted by host-institution grant-call announcements for the current call round. Figures and criteria reflect what was published at time of writing; administrators should verify current terms directly with NRF before relying on them for a live application.