IN TOMORROW'S cities, you could be riding in a personal 'capsule car', or unlocking your door with an inbuilt eye scanner.
Buildings could be powered with renewable energy, and sewers might be free of rats and other pests.
These are just some sample ventures, which could be funded under a National Research Foundation (NRF) grant call.
Researchers here could get up to $10 million to conduct projects that ease the strain on resources needed to support ever-expanding cities, Singapore among them.
By 2015, the United Nations predicts, there will be at least 22 mega-cities around the globe, each supporting more than 10 million denizens.
The urban-sustainability theme is the second in a series of research themes that the NRF wants examined, under its Scenario-based Competitive Research Programme.
In this programme, researchers apply for funds to study specific societal challenges.
Two previous grant calls, in 2007 and 2008, were for studies related to ageing issues.
In the last grant call, four projects were funded - on strokes, degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, and reprogramming stem cells into heart and muscle cells to heal patients.
The current grant call spans a broad spectrum of disciplines, and invites cross-disciplinary projects.
Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
