NUS EFFORT, GLOBAL IMPACT Review of research Both in output and impact, the University’s research capabilities were vibrant and robust in the year. More than 1,600 papers were published in international journals. A milestone was achieved with the launch of the first Asian Journal of Comparative Law spearheaded by the University.

A total of 700 new research projects took off in the review year. In generating new knowledge, NUS steered the same path as its educational dimension, pursuing global standards in terms of achievements as well as in collaborative teamwork. The University crossed over from academia to engage in more than 150 collaborations with partners in industry, the public sector, international consortia, and overseas and national research institutes.

Partnerships like the Hyflux-NUS collaboration on membrane and materials technology, and the NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) Fellowship on cargo logistics leverage on the niche expertise of industry and academia to strengthen R&D in areas strategic to Singapore’s development.

The international reach of NUS research is reflected in the many centres that were established with global partners in the year. They included the Centre of Excellence for Water Knowledge, a collaboration between NUS, Singapore ’s Public Utilities Board and Netherlands’ WL I Delft Hydraulics. The Berkeley-NUS Risk Management Institute is a tie-up with Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The main thrust of NUS research excellence continued to be built at the intersection of disciplines, linking biomedical, behavioural engineering, social and managerial sciences. The Bioinformatics Programme set up in the year, synergises capabilities and resources that stretch across the Schools of Computing and Medicine and the Faculties of Engineering and Science to conduct research in bioinformatics technologies and their applications to improve human life. The Asian Marriage Research Network was set up by the Asia Research Institute with an international consortium of multi-disciplinary researchers to undertake research on issues of marriage in the Asia-Pacific region.

The positioning of NUS’ research focus on new frontiers of knowledge saw significant breakthroughs in the areas of tissue engineering, biotechnology and nanotechnology. NUS researchers established themselves in the year as one of the first to use mesenchymal stem cells to repair cartilage defects.

Safer and improved culture methods of growing the equivalent of human conjunctival tissues were developed at the University’s labs by harvesting stem cells from patients and expanding them ex vivo to form large sheets of tissues for ocular surface transplantation. This development portends well for the transplantation and treatment of cornea and ocular surface.

At the nanotechnology front, a breakthrough was made in the use of electrically charged jets to produce polymeric nanofibres which are light in weight and can neutralise chemical agents. The applications of this unique material are vast and manifold. They can be used as protective gear for the defence industry, to create scaffolds for growing stem cells in tissue engineering and as membranes for water and air purification.