2022 Selection of Merlion Programme

Launched all the way back in 2006, Merlion programme is a Franco-Singaporean grant initiative promoting and enabling joint scientific cooperation. It is co-funded in France by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and in Singapore by six partner research institutions:

 

  • National University of Singapore (NUS),
  • Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU),
  • Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR),
  • Singapore Management University (SMU),
  • Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and
  • Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).

 

Consisted of three types of funding schemes – project, workshop and Ph.D. the Merlion programme objectives are as follows:

 

  • Provide support for joint scientific and technological projects,
  • Enable scientists to meet and implement collaborative projects,
  • Encourage the participation of young researchers and PhD students,
  • Stimulate the creation and development of scientific networks between France and Singapore and joint research laboratories,
  • Facilitate technology transfer and creation of startups.

 

Indeed, the grant awarded is not intended to support the research work itself but will enable the implementation of international cooperation such as exchanges or visits, thus mainly for logistical purposes.

 

Out of the 27 submissions received last year, the 2022 Merlion grant will be awarded to 11 joint proposals: 8 projects, 2 workshops and 1 Ph.D. The most common field of work for the proposals received for this call were in ‘Biology, medicine and health’ (26%), followed by ‘Chemistry’ (23%) and ‘Information and communication sciences and technologies’ (15%).

 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the mobility restrictions, the ‘Project’ awardees of the 2020 Merlion programme have been exceptionally granted a one year funding extension, allowing them to make use of the grant until late 2022. Thanks to the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme established between France and Singapore in fall of 2021, eligible vaccinated travellers can now enjoy quarantine-free entry to Singapore if they meet all VTL requirements. This means that in-person collaborations for Merlion laureates may once again resume.

 

The list of selected Merlion 2022 projects, workshops and PhD are respectively in the below tables:

 

Merlion 2022 Project TitleFieldName of French Research leadName of French Research InstitutionName of Singaporean Research leadName of Singaporean Research Institution
Design et synthèse de structures glycosylées multivalentes pour la vectorisationChemistryLUBIN-GERMAIN NadègeUNIVERSITÉ UNIVERSITÉ DE CERGY-PONTOISE (UCP)LIU Xue WeiNTU
Ferritin nanocages as programmable bricks for biomolecular electronicsPhysicsPLUCHERY OlivierUNIVERSITÉ UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE (UPMC)LIM SierinNTU
Novel technologies dedicated to urban storm water monitoring (NTUWM)Engineering SciencesCHERQUI FredericINSA LYONHAMEL PerrineNTU
Organometallics-Nanoparticle constructs as theranosticsChemistryBERTRAND HélèneUNIVERSITÉ SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉ (SU)LEONG Weng KeeNTU
Automated and efficient inference for probabilistic modelsMathematics and its InteractionsTANG PatrickESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOLTHIERY AlexandreNUS
Skin response to infectious mosquito biteBiology, Medecine and HealthPompon JulienIRDST JOHN AshleyNUS
TieFighter-NHCs for Supramolecular Transition Metals CatalysisChemistryBOUR  ChristopheUNIVERSITÉ UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-SACLAY (UPSACLAY)HUYNH Han VinhNUS
Music Language ProcessingInformation and Communication Sciences and TechnologiesBIGO LouisUNIVERSITÉ UNIVERSITÉ DE LILLE (ULILLE)Herremans DorienSUTD

 

Merlion 2022 Workshop TitleFieldName of French Research leadName of French Research InstitutionName of Singaporean Research leadName of Singaporean Research Institution
The Nuclear Enveloppe And Its Connections To The CytoskeletonBiology, Medecine and HealthCADOT BrunoInstitut de MyologieBURKE BrianA*STAR
Ipp-Ntu Workshop On Emergent Materials And TechnologiesPhysicsPEFETTI LukaEPSCPBATTIATO Marco 

NTU

 

Merlion 2022 PhD TitleFieldName of PhD StudentName of French Research leadName of French Research InstitutionName of Singaporean Research leadName of Singaporean Research Institution
Linear, Groups and FlowsMathematics and its InteractionsWANG TianqiTHOLOZAN NicolasUNIVERSITÉ PARIS SCIENCES ET LETTRES (PSL)ZHANG TengrenNUS