Director’s Message
The Singapore National Biofilm Consortium (SNBC), launched in February 2019, is one of the technology consortia funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF). In its initial phase SNBC was administered through NTUitive and the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), a Research Centre of Excellence hosted by NTU in partnership with NUS. In the current phase, SNBC is administered under the Consortium Management Office (hosted in A*STAR) as a National Platform to boost industry collaborations and academic partnerships. The SNBC initiative is based on a multidisciplinary research platform and skill base, with translational capacity, on microbial biofilm biology and technology, at SCELSE and other institutions across Singapore. The National Research Foundation has funded SNBC to serve as a coordinating platform at the convergence of health, engineering, technology and science, that integrates innovation and business in the area of biofilm and microbiome technologies to address emerging challenges across diverse industries.
SNBC’s industry and academia members have the opportunity to participate in well curated thematic workshops and symposia. They can also engage in networking with various Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs) and gain access to a broad range of relevant research expertise. SNBC aims to foster collaboration, innovation and translational research across academia and industry. As we continue to grow the role of SNBC in promoting the Singapore’s R&D ecosystem, we are also focused on developing international collaborations to further enhance Singapore’s position in global innovation. In early 2020, SNBC was a co-founder of the International Biofilm Task Force along with the Center for Biofilm Engineering in the US, the National Biofilm Innovation Consortium in the UK and EU based members. Moving forward, SNBC will continue to focus on deepening collaborations and connections to catalyse academic-industry partnerships that lead to relevant industry outcomes.
Prof Staffan Kjelleberg
Programme Director
Singapore National Biofilm Consortium
SNBC aims to bridge the gap between research and translation through proactive and effective engagement between the academic and industrial community.
About SCELSE
The Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) was the founding partner of SNBC. SCELSE was launched in 2011 as one of the Research Centres of Excellence in Singapore. SCELSE operates across Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) and employs a multidisciplinary approach with researchers from divergent fields (bioengineering, microbiology, chemistry, physics, environmental science among others), working together within and beyond the Centre to effectively deliver scientific and translational outcomes otherwise beyond the reach of traditional institutional and research boundaries. SCELSE’s research focus is aimed at the understanding, harnessing and controlling of microbial biofilms and microbiomes, leading to innovations relevant to a broad scope of important applications, from public health to water treatment as well as industrial practices.
For more information on SCELSE, please visit SCELSE’s Website
About Consortium Management Office
Consortium Management Office (CMO) provides central management oversight of the Technology Consortia, which aims to bridge the gap between research performers’ awareness of industry demand and industry’s understanding of research performers’ capabilities. Singapore National Biofilm Consortium is one of Technology Consortium under CMO which aims to foster synergistic interactions among IHLs, research institutes, government agencies and industry in Singapore to enable technology translation and deliver economic impact involving biofilms and microbiomes within the Singapore ecosystem. The other Technology Consortia under CMO includes Lux Photonics Consortium (LUX), Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology (Sinergy), Singapore Membrane Consortium (SG-MEM), Singapore Health Technologies Consortium (HealthTEC.SG) and Singapore Battery Consortium (SBC).
