2002

Developments

A new vision and a new mission were articulated for the University. The NUS Vision “Towards a global knowledge enterprise, building synergies between education, research and entrepreneurship” and the NUS Mission to “Advance knowledge and foster innovation, educate students and nurture talent, in service of country and society” position the University to embrace new challenges and seize new opportunities in a rapidly innovating knowledge-driven global economy.

NUS took on the leadership of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), a consortium of 35 leading research universities along the Pacific Rim. In tandem, the APRU Secretariat moved to NUS. APRU aims to foster cooperation in teaching and research among member universities as well as contribute to their countries’ economic, scientific and cultural development.

The University Awards was instituted to recognise and honour the exceptional contributions of faculty members in education, research and service. Awards for Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Researcher and Outstanding Service, as well as the Young Researcher Award (which acknowledges researchers whose work show promise in extending the frontiers of knowledge in their respective fields) are presented in recognition of the pursuit of excellence.

Several initiatives were launched to prepare students for the challenges of the biomedical and life sciences revolution:

• An undergraduate Life Sciences curriculum mounted by the Faculty of Science in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine to provide students with a common, broad-based foundation in biological and biomedical sciences.
• A Division of Bioengineering set up at the Faculty of Engineering to promote bioengineering research and education at both undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition to the Faculty of Engineering, the other faculties participating in this multi-disciplinary initiative are the Faculties of Computing, Dentistry, Medicine and Science.

In seeking to provide more diverse educational opportunities and foster global minds among its students, NUS actively collaborates with overseas universities. Partnerships forged with overseas institutions in the year include:

• George Washington University, USA, for NUS law graduates to transfer credits earned to a Juris Doctor degree programme at George Washington.
• King’s College, London, for Master in Construction Law and Arbitration.
• Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany, for a joint Master in Industrial Chemistry.
• Tsinghua University, PRC, for double Masters in Transportation and Logistics.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, for a joint Master in Chemical Engineering.

The NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative was established as a university-level research institute to spearhead application of this niche research in biotechnology, medicine, information and communications, and engineering sciences.

The pioneer batch of students in NUS College in Silicon Valley (NCSV) started working as interns in Silicon Valley technology start-ups while taking entrepreneurship courses at Stanford University. NCSV is NUS’ first overseas college to be established in thriving entrepreneurial hubs around the world to nurture the spirit of enterprise among NUS students and help them develop global mindsets and aspirations.

Achievements

Medical researchers scored a world first in growing embryonic stem cells which can be used safely in patients to treat diseases like cancer and diabetes. Using only human cells without any animal input eliminates the risk of transmission of animal diseases.

NUS Business School’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme was ranked among the world’s best 100 MBA programmes by The Financial Times of London and the Economist Intelligence Unit, the business information arm of The Economist.