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| To Create the Ideal Environment |
In Academic Year (AY) 2011/2012, we continued
to expand our portfolio of research centres.
These centres play a vital role in creating the right
environment so that our researchers can continue
delivering the sterling work that has made NUS a
world-renowned research hub.
Among the new centres established in the
year of review is a joint effort between NUS and
national industrial infrastructure developer, JTC. In
November 2011, the two partners jointly launched
the NUS-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation
(NUS-JTC I3) Centre to promote the development of
innovative and sustainable industrial infrastructure
solutions in Singapore, and scale up technical
leadership competencies in this field. It will focus
its research efforts on industrial real estate market,
land intensification, planning and design, systems
integration and optimisation, and industrial
construction technology and methods.
In January 2012, the J Y Pillay Comparative
Asia Research Centre was launched, in honour
of renowned policy maker and corporate leader,
Prof J Y Pillay. Located within the NUS Global Asia
Institute, the Centre aims to provide a stimulating
and cross-disciplinary environment for researchers
to pursue research on issues faced by China, India
and Indonesia. The areas of research include human
capital development, education and labour markets,
migration and urbanisation, poverty and inequality
which are strongly affected by demographic trends.
The Centre's work also emphasises on cross-national
comparative studies which can enrich
the understanding of these issues.
At the Faculty of Law, the Centre for Asian Legal
Studies (CALS) was set up in February 2012 to lead
research on Asian law. The Centre, which will bolster
NUS Law's bourgeoning reputation as Asia's Global
Law School, underlines the growing importance of
legal developments in Asia to the world. Building on
the Faculty's collaborations with other law schools in
Asia, CALS will also focus on justice and law reform
issues across the region, seeking to bring Asian
perspectives on these issues to the foreground.
NUS also collaborated with Cambridge
University and Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) in March 2012 to establish a low-carbon
research centre that will be based in Singapore.
The Cambridge Centre for Carbon Reduction in
Chemical Technology (C4T) is expected to open its
doors in early 2013 and will be part of the National
Research Foundation (NRF) Campus for Research
Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE)
at University Town. The Centre, which will use
laboratory space in NUS and NTU, will integrate
advanced experimental analysis with computational
modelling research for low-carbon chemical
technology development.
The Carl Zeiss Innovation Laboratory opened its
doors in April 2012, the culmination of a May 2011
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by
NUS and Carl Zeiss, a leader in the optical and opto-electronic
industries. The S$6 million microscopy
laboratory at the Faculty of Engineering is the first of
its kind in Asia and will be used by both NUS and Zeiss
for collaborative research and education. It houses
cutting-edge Zeiss microscopy equipment to further
research in areas such as materials and bioscience.
Another laboratory launched during the year
of review was the S$15 million Micro and Nano-Fabrication Facility at the Faculty of Science. The
state-of-the-art facility, which was unveiled in June
2012, is part of the Graphene Research Centre, a
first in Asia. Headed by a world leader in graphene
research, Prof Antonio H Castro Neto, the Centre
was established under the scientific advice of
two Nobel Laureates – Prof Andre Geim and Prof
Konstantin Novoselov. The professors won the 2010
Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of graphene,
which has enormous potential for use in the display,
lighting touch panel and photovoltaic industries.
In July 2012, the Centre for Translational
Medicine (CeTM) at the Yong Loo Lin School of
Medicine (YLLSoM) was officially opened. This
integrated facility is dedicated to both high-level
research and the teaching and preparation
of medical and nursing undergraduates for the
healthcare challenges facing Singapore. The
CeTM is home to the Medical Library, lecture
and seminar rooms wired for interactive learning,
as well as laboratories for investigating major
diseases relevant to Singapore. The 15-storey
facility also houses the new Centre for Healthcare
Simulation, one of the region's largest and most
comprehensive simulation centres for clinical
education and practice. |
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| To Build Strong Alliances |
The year of review saw NUS forging alliances
with world-class institutions and organisations
to enhance research in a wide range of fields.
Among them was a collaboration between
our School of Design and Environment (SDE) and
Suntory Holdings Limited. An MOU, signed in
October 2011, paved the way for the research and
development of vertical greening systems. Suntory
has installed at SDE a green panel using urethane-based Pafcal to serve as a soil substitute for growing
plants. The panel will add to the existing systems
and equipment at SDE's Greenery Technology
Laboratory which showcases forefront technologies
that introduce plants into buildings.
In November 2011, the Saw Swee Hock School
of Public Health signed an MOU with the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Under the
MOU, the two schools will collaborate on research
and education in infectious disease control, health
systems and chronic diseases with an Asian focus.
Over the next few years, they will embark on
two key projects. The Population Health Metrics
and Analytics project will leverage on cutting-edge
technology to generate usable real-world
projections. The two schools will also collaborate
on a Master of Public Health course.
The University is also teaming up with Shanghai
Jiao Tong University to establish the CREATE
research and development centre on energy and
environmental sustainability following an agreement
with NRF in December 2011. The Centre, a part
of the NRF CREATE programme, will work on the
Energy and Environmental Sustainability Solutions
for Megacities programme, which will develop and
testbed sustainable solutions in the areas of waste
management, energy and the environment.
In February 2012, NUS inked a Cooperation
Agreement with the Dutch company Deltares to
enhance water research in Singapore and Southeast
Asia. The NUSDeltares initiative will look into urban
water management, adaptation to climate change
and operational management systems. The alliance
will also pursue specialist consultancy services in
Southeast Asia, develop a network of collaborators
and offer on-the-job-training, short courses or
degree programmes.
NUS also signed an agreement with China's
Zhejiang University and the Media Development Authority of Singapore in July 2012 to launch the
Sensor-enhanced Social Media Centre (SeSaMe). The latest International Research Centre hosted by
the NUS Interactive and Digital Media Institute,
SeSaMe will receive S$24 million over five years
and will focus on research in interactive and digital
media and social media applications. |
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| To Break through Barriers |
NUS researchers continued to pursue high-impact
research that advances the boundaries of knowledge
and contributes to the betterment of society.
In the medical arena, Assoc Prof Markus Wenk
and his team from the NUS Singapore Lipidomics
Incubator (SLING) developed a new technology
to detect tuberculosis using novel biomarkers
in December 2011. A product of collaboration
between SLING and the Foundation for Innovative
New Diagnostics, this new technology can be
translated into an affordable, user-friendly and rapid
result tuberculosis diagnostic kit.
Under the Duke-NUS Cancer and Stem Cell
Biology Programme, researchers Assoc Prof Ong
Sin Tiong, Assoc Prof Patrick Tan and Asst Prof
Charles Chuah led a multinational research team
to find out why some leukaemia patients fail to
respond to certain generally effective cancer drugs.
They discovered that a common variation in the
BIM gene in people of East Asian descent was the
reason behind the drug resistance. They also found
that a currently available drug can overcome this
resistance. Their findings, published online on
18 March 2012 in Nature Medicine, offer hope of
customised treatments according to the genetic
composition of a patient's cancer.
NUS researchers also made major advancements
in the fight against dengue. Assoc Prof Paul A
Macary and his team from YLLSoM Department
of Microbiology successfully developed and characterised the first fully human monoclonal
antibody from a patient who recovered from the
disease. As the identified antibody represents
the essence of dengue immunity, the detailed
identification of its target on the virus plus its
mode of action have important implications for
the design and evaluation of new dengue vaccines.
The discovery, published in Science Translational
Medicine on 21 June 2012, may provide new
ammunition to fight this deadly disease.
Scientists at NUS, National Neuroscience Institute
and Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences have
made a significant breakthrough in cancer research.
Led by Assoc Prof Lim Kah Leong from YLLSoM
Department of Physiology, the team discovered the
reason behind the fast progression of some brain
cancers that kill people within a year. The study
determined that parkin, a tumour suppressor, plays
a role in reducing the tumour's growth and its level
in glioma cells can affect the progression of the
disease and survival. Patients with more parkin tend
to survive longer and have lower grades of tumour.
This discovery could mean more targeted treatment
and better prediction of outcomes.
In addition to medical breakthroughs, NUS
researchers did us proud in other fields.
At the Faculty of Science, the Graphene
Research Centre team, including Prof Loh Kian
Ping, Prof Antonio H Castro Neto and PhD student
Dr Jiong Lu, has shown that graphene can be
transformed into an atom-thick semiconductor by
chemically modifying the adherence of graphene
on metal. When carefully delaminated from a metal
cradle where the graphene was deposited, the
shape of graphene nanobubbles can be controlled,
hence making the material semiconducting. This
finding paves the way for new types of graphene
devices which can have a significant impact on the
electronics industry.
At the Centre for Quantum Technologies,
Dr Alexander Ling and his team have been
redesigning and rebuilding an experiment that turns
entangled photons into a compact, robust package
suitable for launch into orbit. On 18 May 2012, the
group sent some subsystems 37.5km up into the
atmosphere on a weather balloon launched from
Germany, allowing the technology to be tested in
a near-space environment. Photons sharing the
quantum property of entanglement can be used
for secure communication. Having a space-based
source of entanglement could extend the range of
future quantum communication networks.
Researchers under the lead of Dr Xie Xianning
at the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Initiative (NUSNNI) have developed the world's
first energy-storage membrane, answering the
need for cost-effective and eco-friendly energy
storage and delivery solutions. The membrane can
store charge at 0.2 farads per square centimetre,
versus the typical upper limit of 1 microfarad per
square centimetre for a standard capacitor. The
cost involved in energy storage is also reduced
drastically, from about US$7 per farad to about
US$0.62 per farad. The NUSNNI team will explore
more applications for this energy storage solution
and opportunities to work with venture capitalists
to commercialise it.
A cross-disciplinary team at NUS, comprising
Prof Loh Kian Ping from the Department of
Chemistry and Graphene Research Centre,
Ms Ang Kailian Priscilla from the NUS Graduate
School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering,
Prof Lim Chwee Teck from the Departments of
Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering,
and his former research fellow, Dr Li Ang, has conceptualised and built a device for malaria
detection using a graphene transistor in a
microfluidic channel. The researchers adopted a
new approach to disease detection and diagnosis
by looking for a change in cell surface charge at
the single cell level. The team is now exploring the
integration of the graphene transistors in a lab-on-a-chip device which can perform high-throughput
flow sensing of infected cells, with automated
electrical readout for disease detection and diagnosis. |
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| To Ease the Way |
NUS researchers also believe in doing their part to
formulate solutions for real issues and challenges
faced by people on a daily basis.
A team from NUS and Stanford University
embarked on a six-month trial project in January
2012 to encourage off-peak travel on Singapore's
rail network. The web-based study Incentives for
Singapore's Commuters (INSINC) is formulating
a reward system for commuters using the Mass
Rapid Transit and Light Rail Transit. The commuters
can earn credits proportional to the distance they
travel, and receive extra credits for shoulder-peak
trips. These credits can be exchanged for prizes or
chances to win monetary rewards.
INSINC and the resulting reward system
will help the rail operators better manage the
crowdedness of their respective system so that
commuters will have an improved riding experience
with shorter waits and reduced travel time.
If the trial project proves successful, the
approach may also be applicable to other areas
such as energy consumption, water conservation,
health and wellness. |
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