4^th NGS Student Symposium 2012

The 4th NGS Students’ Symposium was held on 16th January 2012 Monday at University Hall Auditorium,
and the accompanying poster exhibition, along the U-Hall Link- Bridge.

The theme of the Symposium this year is NGS L.O.R., which stands for Life-Opportunities-Research. As it
implies, the Symposium attempts to construct “research” as a totality – from research per se, research as
part of a life-style for a PhD student, to setting one’s sights beyond PhD research to one’s future prospects,
opportunities and career. “L.O.R.” itself is an ingenious play of the distinctly Singaporean colloquialism fast
and loose on locals’ lips.

The theme provided a tall order for the Student Organizing Committee, but they proved more than capable with the challenges and ambitious targets they set for themselves. The current team put together a thoroughly well-conceived programme, showcasing very interesting research from our students, and covering an expansive range of topics, whilst putting together an eclectic lineup of speakers.

The Keynote Speaker this year was Professor David G. Fernig from the Institute of Integrative Biology in University of Liverpool, who presented an engaging and insightful examination on Interdisciplinary Research approaches.

Student presentations by – just to name a few – Jeffrey Koh (Liquid Interface Project), Gracie Eng Phosphorylation of Period2 by Casein Kinase 1), to Shawn Tan (The Science of Mind Control), Abouzar Kabourdian (Ghost Solid
Method-based algorithms for elastic sold -solid interaction), and down to Li Xuanqi (Biomimetic materials research) and Daniel Dahlmeier (Towards Building A Computer That Can Understand You Like Your Mother) – were engaging, eye -opening, and inspiring to one and all.

Jeffrey Koh was voted as the Best Oral Presenter, while Rebbecca Tan Suet Ting’s “Dissecting TLR Signaling
Through Combinatorial PAMP Stimulation” was awarded the Best Poster honour.

The Organizing Committee also successfully put together a panel of distinguished representatives from the private, public and education sector, to tackle jointly the grand topic of “Opportunities” – specifically, what comes after PhD research, a topic clearly close to the heart of every PhDstudent. We had Mr Lu Yoh Chie (Founder and Chairman of Biosensors International Group Ltd), Dr Adrian Yeo (Deputy Director of School of Chemical and Life Sciences of Singapore Polytechnic), and Dr Jonathan Loh and Dr Koh Wee Shing from IMB and IHPC respectively – who variously shared their experiences on research and the challenges, expectations and rewards in these respective sectors.

It will indeed be a worthy challenge for the next Organizing Committee to roll out an equally, if not more, mpressive
and successful, Symposium in 2013.

As we look forward to Students’ Symposium 2013, we strongly urge Faculty Members to join us next year.
Your participation and presence will be an encouragement and acknowledgement of the tireless efforts invested in making the event a greater success.