Symposium on Microplastics in the Environment and Water: Challenges, Research, and Mitigation Strategies
(MP Symposium 2025)

The NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), together with the NUS Centre for Water Research and SG Lab Forum, successfully organised the MP Symposium 2025 on 18–19 September 2025. The event brought together more than 100 participants from 15 countries, representing academia, industry, and government agencies. With the support of our sponsors and partner organisations, the symposium provided a vibrant platform for interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge exchange on the urgent issue of microplastic pollution.

The symposium opened on 18 September with welcome addresses by Co-chairs Prof. Jiangyong Hu (NUS) and Dr. Karthikeyan Sathrugnan (SG Lab Forum), and opening remarks from Assoc. Prof. Sanjay Swarup (Director, NERI), who highlighted the critical need to address microplastic pollution to safeguard environmental and human health and the importance of cross-disciplinary collaborations with different stakeholders for effective translational solutions.

Across the two days, the programme featured 3 keynote addresses, 9 invited talks, 19 oral presentations, and 36 poster presentations, showcasing the latest trends and technologies and stimulating robust discussion and collaboration.

Congratulations to our seven Poster Award recipients for their outstanding presentations.

Lastly, we invite all participants to continue the conversations sparked at the symposium by exploring joint projects, sharing of knowledge and information, and forming cross-disciplinary working groups.

Check out the MP Symposium Highlights

Programme topics included:

• Fate and Behaviour of Microplastics
• Health and Ecological Impacts of Microplastics
• Strategies and Practices in Managing Microplastics
• Advances in Analytical Methods
• Plastics Recycling and Upcycling
• Microplastics Removal Technologies
• Microplastics Measurement in Environment and Water

Keynote addresses:

• Prof. Atsuhiko Isobe, Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Japan — “The Atlas of Ocean Microplastics (AOMI) database and its application”
• Prof. Hyunook Kim, Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Korea — “Microplastics in Laundry Detergents and Softeners Commercially Available in Korea”
• Prof. Rong Ji, School of Environmental Science, Nanjing University, China — “Utilizing 14C-tracers to study polystyrene degradation”

Poster award recipients:

Ms. Laleh Abdollahzadeh, University of New South Wales, Australia
Title: Advanced Dielectrophoretic Filters for Efficient Microplastic Removal from Industrial Wastewater

Dr. Mukhtiar Ali, NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute, China
Title: Microplastics as Vectors for Organic Pollutants: Biofilm-Mediated Biodegradation and Co-Contamination Dynamics in Marine Ecosystems

Ms. Abisha Christy Christudoss, Vellore Institute of Technology, India
Title: Fate and Fallout: Environmental Transformation and Impact of Surgical Masks in Simulated Ecosystem

Mr. Md Solaiman Hossain, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Title: Investigating Microplastic Accumulation and Trophic Transfer in Aquatic Food Webs

Ms. Guria Saha, Vellore Institute of Technology, India
Title: Detection of Microplastics from our Daily Used Cosmetics and its Impact on Gut Microbiota Artemia Salina

Ms. Megha Sunil, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India
Title: Microbubble-driven SERS Approach for Nanoplastics Analysis in Aquatic Environments

Ms. Lei Xin Yong; National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
Title: Microplastics Induce Ecosystem-wide Impacts on Coral Reefs: Insights from Modelling

Sponsors:

Gold: Agilent Technologies Pte. Ltd.; Frontier Laboratories Ltd.; JEOL Asia Pte. Ltd.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd.;

Silver: Bruker Singapore Pte. Ltd.; Scientific Procurement (S) Pte Ltd.

Supported by:

NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute (NUSRI-SZ); Singapore Oceanarium

This event was held in support of NUS Sustainability Connect.