Singapore Sustains R&D in Science and Technology - increase in demand for PhD researchers is evident in 'biomedical sciences'

2003 R&D Survey reveals private sector's continued investments in R&D

14-Dec-2004

Private sector R&D investment in Singapore continues to grow as more companies are engaging in R&D activities and employing PhD trained researchers. This is revealed in the results of the 2003 R&D Survey released by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

The number of PhD researchers employed by the private sector increased significantly by 17.4% from 547 in 2002 to 642 in 2003. Overall the total number of researchers employed by the private sector grew by 14.0% from 10,566 in 2002 to 12,048 in 2003.

The increase in demand for PhD researchers is most evident in the 'biomedical sciences', 'electronics' and 'precision engineering' sectors under the manufacturing industry, as well as 'R&D' and 'ICT' sectors under the services industry. Overall, the five industry groups collectively registered an increase of 88 PhD researchers in 2003.

"With the fast advancement of technologies and shorter shelf life for products today, it is critical for us to continually create new innovative products and solutions to meet the needs of our customers. Recently we launched a recruitment drive to build up our R&D manpower in Philips Innovation Campus from 1100 to 1300 engineers. A strong R&D team with well trained engineers is critical to support our research and product development," said Mr Mourad Mankarios, Chairman and CEO of Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd

Dr Jan Sabbat, Asia Pacific Medical Director of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) regional Clinical Research team commented, "The Singapore government has built an impressive infrastructure with an educated and skilled workforce, and I am excited to see the speed at which the biomedical industry is developing in Singapore. Many companies, including GSK have identified Singapore as a suitable base for high value added activities such as biomedical research and development. Their investments have added vibrancy to biomedical sciences landscape here."

Mr Boon Swan Foo, Managing Director of A*STAR said, "It is a positive sign for Singapore that more companies are investing and engaging in R&D activities. It reflects industry's commitment to R&D as an engine of competitive strength and business growth. The availability of skilled and trained researchers is critical as Singapore develops itself into a knowledge based economy. To support the demands of the industry, A*STAR has initiated several scholarship programmes from undergraduate to PhD level to nurture and increase the pool of local research talent."

Overall in 2003, there is a net increase of 98 companies, from 519 in 2002 to 617 in 2003, who have reported performing R&D activities in Singapore. Private sector R&D expenditure continues to lead, accounting for 61% ($2.081 million) of total expenditure on R&D.

Compared to 2002, the private sector R&D expenditure remains almost constant. This is partly due to a return to R&D expenditure trend in the 'Construction' sector, after a spike in 2002. Meanwhile, R&D expenditure continues to grow in the 'Manufacturing' and 'Services' sectors.

The Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) increased in absolute terms to $3.424 billion last year and maintained at 2.15% of GDP. The private sector continues to play an important role in Singapore 's R&D activities, as its investments accounted for 61% of total R&D expenditure. The government sector, higher education sector and the public research institutes each accounted for about 13% of total expenditure on R&D. The manufacturing sector constitutes almost three quarter of 2003's GERD and remains as the main contributor.

In the manufacturing sector, electronics continue to play a critical role, contributing 72% of the manufacturing private sector R&D expenditure. Other significant contributors include sectors such as Precision Engineering (12%), Transport Engineering (5%) and Chemicals (5%). The services sector was contributed mainly by ICT, R&D and Other Services sectors.

The level of patenting activities continued to show a steady trend of moderate increase in 2003, reflecting the increased awareness by our R&D community on the importance of intellectual property protection, as well as improved quality of R&D conducted in Singapore . The number of patents filed increased by 6.9% from 936 in 2002 to 1,001 in 2003, and the number of patents granted increased by 2.0% from 451 in 2002 to 460 in 2003.

Singapore 's R&D progress has shown encouraging results when benchmarked against countries with economies of similar size. In terms of private sector's expenditure on R&D (also known as business expenditure on R&D, BERD) as a ratio of GDP, Singapore is ahead of Ireland and Netherlands but trails behind the leading R&D intensive countries such as Israel , Sweden , Finland and Switzerland .

Singapore 's R&D manpower, in terms of full time equivalent (FTE) researchers per 10,000 labour force (93) is also comparable to many of the R&D intensive countries, but behind that of Finland and Sweden . This sets a good foundation for Singapore to continue strengthening our R&D landscape.

R&D in the private sector is growing steadily. More companies in manufacturing and knowledge-intensive services are engaging in R&D. The demand for PhD researchers is also increasing, especially in the biomedical sciences, electronics & precision engineering, R&D services and ICT sectors. To meet the industry's growing demand, more researchers are being trained, particularly at the PhD level. R&D will be a key engine for economic growth and job creation. Singapore is well positioned to leverage on R&D and innovation to sustain the competitiveness of our industries.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/41668/singapore-sustains-r-d-in-science-and-technology-increase-in-demand-for-phd-researchers-is-evident-in-biomedical-sciences.html