Eight projects have been awarded a total of $2 million by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in its latest round of grants.

The projects included a way to purify oil-contaminated water more efficiently and a medical device to help breast cancer patients to preserve their healthy breast tissue.

The winners received $250,000 each and have up to a year to come with a commercial prototype said NRF in a statement on Tuesday.

They were selected by a 22-member judging panel which included representatives from companies, research institutes and universities.