Singapore (VNA) – The Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore has announced that the country will allocate 556 million SGD (over 440 million USD) over the next five years to support research in social sciences and humanities.
This marks an increase of around 20% from the 457 million USD set aside in the last five years to support key initiatives launched by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC).
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 Social Science and Humanities Ideas Festival, organiaed by SSRC at Singapore Management University (SMU) on February 26, Education Minister Desmond Lee said in times of great complexity and uncertainty, and amidst these changes, social science and humanities research can help Singapore to make sense of what’s going on, chart course, identify trends, avoid pitfalls, and seize opportunities.
Such research, he noted, can inform efforts to build resilience to climate change, mitigate risks and harness opportunities arising from artificial intelligence for jobs and society, support an ageing population, and strengthen trust between communities in a turbulent world.
He added that Singapore’s social science and humanities research can also help to address global challenges.
According to Lee, SSRC will support upcoming projects, including studies on regional challenges such as cross-border cybersecurity vulnerabilities, offering insights into how Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries can enhance resilience for the region.
In addition to producing strong scholarship, the Singaporean government wants to support applied research that can achieve real-world impact and help overcome Singapore’s challenges, Lee said.
The new tranche of funding will further strengthen the core of Singaporean researchers through initiatives such as the Graduate Research Fellowship, which was launched in 2021 to encourage early-career Singaporean researchers based overseas for their PhD or postdoctoral training to return and take up appointments in local educational institutions.
Since SSRC was founded in 2016, it has awarded funding to 54 research projects under the Social Science Research Thematic Grant, 21 early-career researchers, and 48 Graduate Research Fellowship projects. The research projects span topics such as evolving geopolitics in a changing world order, public housing and insights on ageing in Singapore.
According to Lee, the 457- million - USD funding for such research from 2021 to 2025 has supported close to 80 research projects in areas such as behavioural science, medical humanities, and sustainability, and trained many local researchers, including around 200 PhD students./.
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