Green and Sustainable Manufacturing

The Singapore Economic Development Board and GlaxoSmithKline have made a joint commitment to improving manufacturing efficiency in pharmaceutical and fine chemical manufacture in Singapore. This commitment includes an endowment fund of approximately SGD $33 million to fund research that will help:

Build a strong capability in Singapore to meet the sustainable manufacturing challenges of the future for local industries
Further enhance the working relationship between universities, institutes, and local companies through interdisciplinary research in sustainability
Enable Singapore to become a leader in sustainability research for pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals

GlaxoSmithKline has long held a strong interest in sustainable manufacturing. GSK’s CEO, Andrew Witty has set challenging targets to drive sustainability into pharmaceutical manufacture and distribution. This interest in sustainability is shared with the Singapore Economic Development Board, which understands that improving the sustainability of manufacturing processes is critical to ensuring the economic competitiveness of Singapore’s chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing base while improving environmental quality in the region.

The unique public-private collaboration provides Singapore universities, institutions, and industries with an opportunity to develop an integrated, long-lasting, and leading position in ‘green’ research and development, while providing researchers with the skills and training required to meet future industry challenges.

The endowment fund also offers successful applicants an opportunity to work closely with an industry leader who will assist researchers in understanding industry problems and in supporting research and development efforts.

To achieve these goals, basic and applied research in sustainable manufacturing science will be awarded to successful proposals submitted for key strategic research themes.