Research

Review

NUS’ research thrust continued to be strong and vibrant as the university community remained strongly committed to the University’s vision of building synergies between the creation, imparting and application of knowledge.

Faculties continued to strive for research excellence, engaging close to 2,000 projects of which a third were new projects. The total number is an increase of about 10 per cent over the same period last year. The output both in volume and quality was high resulting in the publication of more than 3,100 research papers in international, regional and local journals, and over 2,000 international conference papers.

The quality of NUS research continued to receive strong financial support. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), and public and private agencies remained the University’s main sources of research funding. In financial year 2004 (ending 31 March 2005) these agencies provided more than $157 million in research funds.

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Research focus continued to be at the cutting edge in areas as diverse as nanotechnology, biomedicine, bioengineering and biomicroelectromechanical systems. Many of the projects conducted were strategic, aligned to the nation’s economic growth as well as the University’s standing in international academia. Multi-disciplinary research leveraging on the strengths of the University as a comprehensive university remained one of the University’s major research strengths.

The NUS research community was an active hub where the best and brightest minds of the day came to share with each other the latest updates in technological inventions and breakthroughs. Bold initiatives at the frontiers of knowledge
were taken such as hosting the inaugural International Congress on Complementary and Alternative Medicines. The year saw a full calendar of conferences and symposiums held on campus where guest speakers like Professor D F Williams, world-renowned biomaterials scientist (University of Liverpool) and Editor-in-Chief of Biomaterials, took centre stage.

RESEARCH TIES

NUS continued to forge strategic ties with international and local partners. In the course of the year, the University signed over 110 collaborative agreements with industry, other institutions of higher learning and public agencies within and outside Singapore. Joint appointments with national research institutes under the A*STAR umbrella, leveraging on the close teaching research nexus between the two sectors, continued to be the main platform for the University to gather the intellectual mass,
shared resources and exchange network critical for conducting quality research.

Ties with industry in R&D were strong and active as in previous years. The Advanced Membrane Science and Technology Programme (Faculty of Engineering) partnered a number of global and local industry leaders in chemicals, materials and bio-pharmaceuticals to initiate joint R&D in the development of new membranes for gas/liquid/bio-pharmaceuticals separations. They included Hyflux (Singapore), Universal Oil Products (US), Merck (US), Bask (Germany) and Mitsui (Japan). These industry-sponsored projects will contribute to the positioning of Singapore as an advanced membrane technology enterprise hub in the region.

NEW RESEARCH THRUSTS

The University continued to expand its research portfolio during the period under review. The Faculty of Science embarked on cross-faculty initiatives in medicinal chemistry, bioimaging, computational biology and bioinformatics, biophysics, polymer and molecular electronics.

The School of Computing established several multi-disciplinary research projects on sensors and networks with the Faculty of Engineering under the umbrella of the InfoComm and Info Tech Initiative in the year.

The Office of Life Sciences launched the Immunology Programme which is headed
by Professor David Michael Kemeny, who was previously Head of the Department of Immunology, King’s College Hospital School of Medicine, London, UK. Besides focusing on the immunological defence mechanisms of the human body to pathogens, the programme will also conduct research on asthma and other pulmonary diseases.

RESEARCH FACILITIES

New research facilities were added in the year to focus on excellence in niche areas of research. They included the Centre for Health Services Research at the Faculty of Medicine and the Singapore Centre for Applied and Policy Economics (SCAPE) at the Faculty of Arts& Social Sciences.

The IBM-NUS On Demand Supply Chain Solutions Centre and the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering (with the Economic Development Board) are examples of the University’s close ties with the private and public sectors to conduct R&D that are strategic to Singapore’s economic positioning.

At the Faculty of Engineering, a Biomolecular Research Cluster was formed with a tie-up with the Bioprocessing Technology Institute. The collaboration charts a road map for dayto-day interactions between both partners on research focusing on protein crystallisation and mammalian cell cultures.