Raffles Consulting Services
Prepare a T-Up Singapore project brief that defines the technology question, knowledge transfer and commercial handover.
A T-Up Singapore project should start with a technology question the company cannot solve through routine procurement. The programme attaches research scientists, engineers or technical experts to eligible businesses, so management must define the uncertainty, expected capability and commercial handover. A request for a general extra pair of hands is unlikely to produce a useful research collaboration.
State the unresolved technical problem
Describe the product, process or system and the present limitation. Show what has already been tried, what is known and what remains uncertain. Distinguish scientific or engineering work from ordinary configuration, software implementation or outsourced production. The question should be narrow enough to investigate and important enough to affect the business.
Attach test data, drawings, process measurements or technical reports where available. Identify constraints such as material properties, accuracy, throughput, energy use, safety or regulatory requirements. Do not hide a weak commercial case behind technical vocabulary. Explain who would use the result and what decision it enables.
Check programme fit and company readiness
The Enterprise Singapore T-Up page states that the programme supports local SMEs and large local companies seeking to upgrade research and development capabilities. It lists support of up to 70% of allowable costs for an SME or start-up and up to 30% for a large local company, capped at S$250,000 per project, subject to assessment.
The applicant must be registered in Singapore, meet the local-equity and group-size criteria stated for the programme, and be able to finance and complete the project. Confirm these facts before discussing a project plan. A company also needs an internal technical owner, access to equipment and data, and time to work with the attached expert.
Define the expert contribution
Specify the expertise needed, such as materials, manufacturing automation, high-performance computing, bioengineering or machine learning. Describe the work packages, experiments, design reviews and decisions expected from the expert. Avoid writing a job description for normal operations. The attachment should build a capability that remains useful after it ends.
The A*STAR programme page explains that seconded experts support research and development projects for up to two years. Plan how company staff will participate. Pair the expert with named employees, schedule technical reviews and require methods, code, designs and test records to be transferred into the business.
Set intellectual property boundaries
Identify background intellectual property from the company, research institution and third parties. Decide what new results may arise and who needs rights to use, improve and commercialise them. Flag open-source software, licensed data and customer materials. These questions require appropriate agreements before technical work begins.
Connect ownership to the intended business model. A company planning to manufacture, license or raise investment needs a clear chain of rights. Where legal documents or formal opinions are required, coordinate with Singapore lawyers with the relevant intellectual property and technology speciality.
Measure progress through evidence
Use technical milestones such as a validated method, prototype performance, repeatability, yield or integration result. State the test conditions and acceptance threshold. Add commercial milestones only where the technical output genuinely supports them. Revenue should not be promised merely because a prototype is completed.
Keep experiment records, version control, decisions and failed approaches. A negative result can still be valuable if it resolves uncertainty and is documented. Review the project monthly against scope, cost, staffing and knowledge transfer. Escalate changes before the original question disappears into unrelated development work.
Plan the handover before starting
Write the final handover now: trained employees, methods, source files, equipment settings, technical report, intellectual property record and next development decision. Assign owners for each item. Include a period in which company staff run the method without the attached expert and resolve remaining gaps.
Compare T-Up with buying a solution, engaging a commercial vendor or using another innovation route. The AI pilot decision guide and RIS(C) scope guide show different project shapes. The business support cornerstone keeps the funding comparison grounded.
Prepare for the first researcher discussion
Bring a short technical brief rather than a broad request for innovation. It should describe the current product or process, the failure or limitation, operating conditions, available data and the result that would change a business decision. Attach photographs, drawings, test reports or anonymised samples where useful. Mark confidential material and agree how it should be handled before sharing it beyond the company.
Separate facts from hypotheses. State what the team has observed, what it believes may cause the problem and what remains unknown. List earlier experiments, including unsuccessful ones, so the researcher does not repeat work without reason. If data quality is weak, make measurement improvement an early deliverable. A well-framed uncertainty gives the seconded researcher room to investigate while preserving a business purpose.
Define the company’s contribution. Name the technical sponsor, day-to-day counterpart, site access, equipment, data and staff time available. Plan workplace safety, information security and approvals for trials. The researcher should not become the sole owner of an operational system that company staff cannot support. Include knowledge transfer, documentation and training in the work plan.
Before agreeing milestones, decide what happens if the first hypothesis is wrong. Use review points that can narrow, redirect or stop the project based on evidence. Record intellectual-property expectations, publication limits and use of background technology for formal discussion with the relevant parties. The project brief should make the business decision clearer even when research produces a negative result.
The strongest T-Up brief names the technical uncertainty, the expert capability required and what the company will own and operate afterwards. That clarity helps the business test programme fit without turning a research attachment into ordinary staffing.