1. Elsevier Forum on Accelerating Research Excellence
New Delhi, India
23 September 2011
BUILDING A
WORLD CLASS UNIVERSITY
Professor Barry Halliwell
Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor
Deputy President (Research & Technology)
National University of Singapore

2. THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
NUS Research is good and has
improved fast in recent years
Evidence for Impact
• Bibliometic indices and league tables
• Success in grant competition (e.g. 3.5/5 Research Centres of Excellence)
• Growing new industries for Singapore and developing existing ones.
Extensive EDB investment in NUS and visits by foreign companies.
• Consultancies and other advisory positions to industry and government
bodies
• The investment by government, charities, industry etc into NUS to create
“think tanks”, such as Risk Management Institute, Centre for International
Law, VISA, Real Estate Studies, Centre for Maritime Studies, LKY School of
Public Policy etc
• Location of selected high-level industries at NUS, e.g. Siemens, GE, SDWA

3. DO RANKINGS MATTER?
THEY ARE FLAWED BUT PEOPLE DO NOTICE THEM
(including prospective staff and students)

4. Field Cites per Paper Rank (% above / below world average)
(This measures the % by which the research impact is above the world average)
NUS
Field 2006-
2000-2010
2010
Materials Science +101 +132
Agricultural Sciences +69 +104
Mathematics +48 +42
Engineering +35 +50
Pharmacology & Toxicology +33 +44
Chemistry +26 +34
Computer Science +8 +27
Environment/Ecology +6 +32 Circles represent where impact
has grown significantly over the
Biology & Biochemistry +5 +22 past 5 years as opposed to 10
years.
Clinical Medicine -7 +12 Source: Thomson
Reuters/Essential Science
Indicators

5. World University Ranking 2010
THE vs QS
Times Higher Education NUS QS World University NUS
(THE) World University Ranking
Ranking 2010
2010 2011
World Rank 34 World Rank 31 28
Ranking in Asia Region 4 Ranking in Asia Region 3 3
Overall Score 72.9 Ranking by Discipline
Teaching 65.5 Engineering and IT 9 NA
International Mix 97.8 Life Sciences and 13 NA
Biomedicine
Industry Income 40.5 Social Sciences 16 NA
Research 72.6 Arts and Humanities 23 NA
Citations 78.7 Natural Sciences 25 NA
Source :
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/

6. WHY DO WE STUDY RANKINGS?
• They HELP to tell us that NUS Research is good and has
improved fast in recent years
(but we don’t judge this only by ranks and citations)
• Bibliometric indices and league tables
• Success in grant competition (e.g. 3.5/5 Research Centres of Excellence)
• Growing new industries for Singapore and developing existing ones. Extensive EDB investment in
NUS and visits by foreign companies.
• Consultancies and other advisory positions to industry and government bodies
• The investment by government, charities, industry etc into NUS to create “think tanks”, such as
Risk Management Institute, Centre for International Law, VISA, Real Estate Studies, Centre for
Maritime Studies, LKY School of Public Policy etc
• Location of selected high-level industries at NUS, e.g. Siemens, SDWA, Agilent, Zeiss
Comments from the External Review Panel for the Quality Assurance Framework
for Universities 2010
• The ERP commends NUS for the progress made in research since 2004 in terms of obtaining a
head start in developing peaks of excellence, getting more funding and producing more and
higher impact publications.
• They HELP us to identify up and coming researchers and successful research
fields (“peaks of excellence”), as well as under-performing areas
• They can help identify productive collaborations with other Institutions.

7. Singapore: Transportation Hub and Entry to Asia
(Planes and Ships)
South Korea
Japan
Middle East China
India Bangladesh Hong Kong Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
USA
Europe Sri Lanka Philippines
Malaysia
Australia
Singapore
Brunei
Advantages • No energy (except some solar) New Zealand
• Location • Little food
• Political / social stability • Little space Indonesia
• Good government • No oil or mineral resources
• People • Water-constrained
• Climate change
• Very small, minute domestic market
• Rapidly ageing population

8. NUS: Singapore’s National and Only
Comprehensive University
A KEY FUNCTION OF NUS IN SINGAPORE IS TO PROVIDE A
STRONG AND BROAD (YET RELEVANT) RESEARCH BASE
• Lord Krebs in his evidence to the House of Commons Innovation, Universities,
Science and Skills Committee (2008-9) pointed to a study in which ten key
advances in cardiovascular medicine were traced back to about 600 papers
from 400 different disciplines which provided the basis for the advances. Over
40% of them had nothing to do with cardiovascular medicine at all and many of
them were not carried out in medical departments but in departments of
chemistry, engineering, physics, botany, agriculture, zoology etc.
A vision for UK Research, Council for Science and Technology (2010)
• Several Agency for Science, Technology and
Research (A*STAR) RICs had their origins in NUS.

9. Research is conducted in All Major Disciplines
Faculties and Schools
(Undergraduate and Graduate education)
1. Arts and Social Sciences 7. Law
2. Business 8. Medicine
3. Computing 9. Music
4. Dentistry 10. Science
5. Design and Environment 11. University Scholars Programme
(for Undergraduate only)
6. Engineering
Graduate Schools
1. Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
2. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
3. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences
and Engineering

10. ADVANTAGES OF NUS
Comprehensive Infrastructure & Proximity
KENT RIDGE CAMPUS
Dentistry
GE Water
DMERI
Zeiss
Engineering Science Nursing SIEMENS
LILLY
Agilent Medicine
Singapore-
Delft Water
Alliance Computing Temasek Life Centre for Life
National University
Sciences Sciences
Hospital
Laboratory
Humanities /
Social New MRT
Sciences

11. ADVANTAGES OF NUS *Occupants
MIT
SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL AND ONLY ETH Zurich
TUM Munich
COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY Imperial College
Synergy in Proximity Hebrew University
Technion Israel
SMART / Berkeley
CREATE Peking University
Biopolis
/ NRF* NUS
NTU
Others
Fusionopolis
National
University
SICS Hospital
NEW one-north
MRT!
Map courtesy of
Singapore
JTC Corporation
Science Parks
11
SICS – Singapore Institute for Clinical
Science (A*STAR)

12. A Problem NUS has
Students Enrolled – Type (AY 2010-11)
Graduate Students Undergraduate
10,548 (<50% local) Students
Type of Graduate Total 26,418
Programmes
Coursework - 4721
(80% local)
Masters 28.5%
Coursework – 281 Total  Research in honours year
Grad. Diploma
 Research in junior years
Coursework – 196 36,966 (UROP)
Doctoral
Research – 1052
71.5%
Masters
Research – PhD 4298
Total 10548
No Large Rise in
Numbers Planned
Number of PhD Students is increasing fast

13. BUT RESEARCH NEEDS MONEY!
92% OF NUS RESEARCH IS
EXTERNALLY-FUNDED
Type of research Typical quantum
1. Investigator-led project based 50k – 1 million*
2. Programme 5-25 million
3. University-level institute / centre Variable, often
3-50 million
4. Research Centre of Excellence 150 million
*The backbone and enabler that allows a PI to build research
programmes and prepares them to eventually participate in bigger
programmes

14. NUS STRATEGY
1. High-level (yet relevant) research over a
reasonably broad base from which “peaks of
excellence” grow (BUT HOW DO WE IDENTIFY
THEM?)
2. Synergy across boundaries to achieve research
impact and bid for strategic funding
3. Work with agencies in Singapore to utilise NUS
research to address real-world questions
4. Partner strategically with overseas institutions
for the same reason
5. Work closely with industry for mutual benefit

15. RESEARCH AT NUS
Interdisciplinarity is strongly encouraged
- Department / Faculty based
- Faculty Research Centres
- Cross-Faculty Clusters
- Research Centres of Excellence
- Cross Institution Clusters
HOW DO WE ENCOURAGE THIS?
1. Dialogue
2. Space
3. Resources (a little money, some space,
allocation of scholarships for graduate students)

16. ADVANTAGES OF NUS
University Level RICs
24½ University-level Research Institutes or Centres
• Asia Research Institute
• Life Sciences Institute
• Centre for International Law
• Middle East Institute
• Centre for Maritime Studies
• NUS Environmental Research Institute
• Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing &
• NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Processing
Initiative
• East Asian Institute
• Risk Management Institute
• Energy Studies Institute
• Singapore Synchrotron Light Source
• NUS Global Asia Institute
• Solar Energy Research Institute of
• Institute for Mathematical Sciences Singapore
• Institute of Real Estate Studies • Temasek Laboratories
• Institute of South Asian Studies • The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific
• Interactive & Digital Media Institute • Tropical Marine Science Institute
Advantages
Status, access to resources (seed funding), SPACE, ability to bid for
large external grants

17. Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs)
3.5 / 5 (70% success rate)
Centre for Quantum Technologies
• Singapore’s first RCE established in 2007
• Conducts interdisciplinary theoretical and experimental research into the fundamental limits of
information processing
• $158 million over 10 years from National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Ministry of
Education (MOE)
Cancer Science Institute of Singapore
• Set up in March 2008 to become one of the world’s leading centres for cancer research
• $172 million over 7 years from NRF and MOE
Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore
• Established in September 2009
• Work on new ways of studying diseases through the mechanisms of cell & tissue mechanics
• Funding of $150 million over 10 years from NRF and MOE
Singapore Centre on Environmental and Life Sciences Engineering
• NTU-led RCE with substantial NUS input; to be operational by January 2011
• Conducts cutting edge research on microbial biofilm communities for water and
environmental sustainability
BUT HOW TO SUPPORT THEM WHEN THE MONEY RUNS OUT
AFTER 7-10 YEARS?

18. NUS STRATEGY
Synergise across boundaries / Encourage mixing
CONTROL SPACE CAREFULLY!
T-Lab Building NORTH WING
TEMASEK LABORATORIES@NUS
SOUTH WING
L9 Director’s & Admin Office
L11 NUSNNI-NanoCore
L8 Seminar Rooms, Library etc.
L9 & 10
Mechanobiology L7 EM Materials Lab
Institute, Singapore
L7 & 8 Div of Env Sci L6 Office Space
& Engineering
L5 Office Space
L6 NUS-GE S’pore
Water Tech Centre
L4 Control / Computational /
L5 Seminar Rooms, Cognitive Science Labs
Office Space
L4 Data Centre L3 Antenna & EM Material Lab
L2 NUS Environmental L2 Aeroscience Lab
Research Institute

19. STRENGTHS OF NUS
CLOSE LINKS WITH AGENCIES IN SINGAPORE
TO APPROACH REAL-WORLD QUESTIONS
School of Design and Environment
• More than S$12 million worth of research projects funded primarily from the Ministry of
National Development Research Fund.
• Research projects conceptualized and implemented in collaboration with agencies such as the
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Housing and Development Board (HDB), National
Parks Board (NParks), Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Land Transport
Authority.
• Projects include subjects such as BCA’s zero energy building, evaluation of Greenmark
buildings, benchmarking city sustainability, density-environment relationships, urban climate
mapping, urban greenery and urban space designs, and transport modeling.
• Research outcomes have high impact on public sector policies on land use, urban planning,
urban redevelopment, transportation, biodiversity and housing.
• Will work closely with ETH and other overseas partners
• Will link closely with VISA
NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI) / Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI)
• Close links with PUB, other public bodies, and Industry
BUT BE CAREFUL THAT YOU DO NOT BECOME TOO NARROWLY-
APPLIED

20. NUS ALSO STRONGLY SUPPORTS
RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES / SOCIAL
SCIENCES / LAW / BUSINESS
• Important in its own right, e.g. to develop
understanding and explanations of human
conditions and behaviour.
• Contributes to cross-disciplinary initiatives
(environment, sustainability, digital media,
ethics, risk management, ageing etc)
• Holistic education of students

21. ONE EXAMPLE
The Biology of Decision Making
under Risk
• Research project headed by Prof Richard Ebstein (Psychology, NUS) and
Prof Chew Soo Hong (Economics, NUS)
• Awarded €507,000 by the AXA Research Fund.
• AXA Research Fund first grant to an Asian University
• Conventional wisdom (‘nothing ventured nothing gained’) is clear on the
importance of taking risks but the source of the individual differences
observed in risk taking remains obscure.
• The proposal aims to understand these individual differences employing
cutting edge methods from the neurosciences, psychology, experimental
economics and human genetics.
• Hypothesis : Decision making under risk, albeit a complex behavioral
phenotype, can be understood as a basic biological mechanism with
roots embedded in evolution and genetics.

22. Centre for International Law (CIL)
History: Officially launched on 30 October 2009 by Senior Minister Prof S. Jayakumar.
Founding Director: Assoc Prof Robert C Beckman
Vision: To become a regional intellectual hub and thought leader for research on and teaching of
international law
Focus areas: ASEAN Law and Policy; Ocean Law and Policy; Economic Law and Policy; Aviation Law and
Policy; and International Dispute Resolution.
Promoting thought leadership through policy-relevant conferences, workshops and speaker series.
Examples:
• Regional Workshop on Submarine Telecommunications Cables and Law of the Sea
• Global Conference on International Investment Arbitration
• International Conference on Air Transport, Air Law and Regulation
• The CIL ASEAN Charter Series
• Regional Workshop on International Maritime Crime (upcoming)
Research that promotes Singapore’s and Asia’s influence on International Law developments. Examples:
• ASEAN Integration Through Law (ITL) Research Project
• The CIL Documents Database (currently over 450 ASEAN and International Law documents
available for easy, free download)
• Submarine Telecommunications Cables and the Law of the Sea Research Project
Capacity-building and training for government officials. Examples:
• CIL Executive Programme on the conduct of international economic disputes
• CIL Executive Programme on anti-dumping legislation for economic officials
• CIL Executive Programme on investment law for trade officials (upcoming)
• International Law training course for diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic
Academy
http://www.cil.nus.edu.sg

23. ONE CONSEQUENCE
NUS CAN NURTURE NICHE AREAS OF HIGH
QUALITY THAT ARE NOT YET THE “FLAVOUR OF
THE MONTH”
[e.g. non-medical biology, plant science, humanities and social science (e.g. Asia
Research Institute), mathematics]
One example
• Molecular basis of crop yields
(MOU signed with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on 16
Feb 2009)
• Crop resistance to environmental change
• Nutrition, diet and health maintenance in Asians
• Biodiversity
• New competitive grants from NRF and SMF (3 grants totalling $21.2 million
were obtained in the food security area)

24. HOW DOES NUS WORK?

25. THE GANG OF FIVE
President
Deputy President Deputy President
Deputy President
(Academic Affairs) (Research & CEO
(Administration)
& Provost Technology) NUS Enterprise
• The Provost, also a Deputy President, is responsible for all academic
matters in the University.
• The Deputy President (Research & Technology) (DPRT) oversees the
University’s research programmes and its University-level Research
Institutes and Centres, including RCEs.
• The Deputy President (Administration) is in charge of the central
administrative departments of the University.
• NUS Enterprise was established to promote enterprise at NUS. The CEO
of NUS Enterprise works closely with DP(R&T) and oversees all
entrepreneurial and commercial activities of the University.

26. Duties of DP(R&T) Office
- Administration and Compliance Promote NUS-Industry
Exchange
- Facilitation GrantGrant Seed
Administration Matching Grant Dialogue with
Funding
Scheme Funders
Identify Areas of
Strategic
Importance
High Impact Growing
Research the Pie
Promote Multidisciplinary
Research Programmes
Attract & Retain
Talent
 Build solid base of high-quality research
across a reasonably-broad range of
disciplines
Research Strong Global
Benchmarking  Establish Research Centres of Excellence Profile
Review within NUS & other Peaks of International Research
and relative to peer Excellence in selected areas
universities
(research
benchmarking)
Recognition & Establish International
Facilitate Commercialisation Research Networks
of Research Outcomes
Research Reward of Research
Spin Off Excellence Publicise Achievements
IP Protection
Protection of Research Prestigious Research Awards
Integrity Animal Welfare
Institutional Review Board (IACUC)

27. How to Grow Research Quality?
• Quality staff (its all about people)
• Give them the conditions they need to excel
• Accurate and fair (real and perceived) assessment of
performance
• NUS operates performance based pay (salary rises,
performance bonuses)
• Criteria for promotion and tenure require performance in
teaching and research (excellent in one, good in the other)
• Quality graduate students allocated to the best people
• Taking advantage of funding opportunities
• Selective allocation of NUS resources to support excellence
 Money
 Students
 Space

28. Supporting NEW Ideas and
NEW People
• Light teaching loads for new staff
• Young Investigator award (substantial
additional start-up package)
• Cross-Faculty rapid grant award
• Research fund for Arts and Social Sciences
• Assistance with grant-writing

29. NUS Young Investigator Award
(NUS YIA)
Grant: ≤ S$500k in addition to usual start-up packages
Duration: ≤ 3 years
Aim:
Support early career development of young faculty members likely to
make significant contributions to the development of research at NUS
Encourages projects that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries or
break new ground
Criteria:
PI must be a full-time academic staff at an NUS Faculty/School
PI must have joined NUS within the past 3 years
PI must be less than 40 years old

30. SMF-NUS Research Horizons Award
• Co-funded by NUS and the Singapore Millennium
Foundation (SMF)
• Seeks to accelerate the development of paradigm-
changing research ideas from conception to
implementation.
• Winners will have one year and funding of up to
S$100,000 each to carry out their investigations.
• At the end of the term, they will compete for the Phase
II funding of up to S$1 million over two years if their
ideas show promise.
(based on Bill and Melinda Gates award scheme)

31. Expanding Cross-Disciplinary Research
• To seed the “programmes of the future” and
encourage interactions
• Investigators from two different
Faculties/Schools (junior staff preferred as PIs)
• One year funding of up to S$35,000
• Not restricted to strategic areas (quality of
project, quality of staff, innovation are key
parameters)
• Rapid decision process
• Special allocation for research in ageing

32. A POTENTIAL PROBLEM
Close to 92% of NUS Research Funds come from External Competitive Grant
Funds, often for 2-3 year projects (Data for Y2009)
Others (Other Min/Stat
NUS-funded Research Boards/Industry/
Foundations/
Programmes
Individuals)
4% RCEs (Cancer, CQT,
MOE Block Grant for Others (Other Min/Stat Mechanobiology)
Research (Tier 1) Boards/Industry/
4% Foundations/ Individuals) MOH
28%
NRF (Projects)
9% A*STAR
TOTAL
$402m
MOE Competitive Grants
(Tier 2)
MOE Competitive Grants
(Tier 2)
7% NRF (other than RCE
funding)
RCEs (Cancer, CQT,
Mechanobiology) MOE Block Grant for
A*STAR Research (Tier 1)
18%
15%
MOH
15% NUS-funded Research
Programmes
Note:
(i) MOE also provides a research scholarship block but graduate students require research support in order to be trained. If this is included as
external grant income the % rises to 93.5%.
(ii) NUS-funded Research Programmes refer to NUS Young Investigator Award, Cross Faculty Grant, Humanities & Social Sciences-funded
projects, Start-up Fund and other programmes funded from ODPRT.
THIS MAKES US VERY VULNERABLE TO CHANGES IN THE
FUNDING LANDSCAPE.

33. SOME COMING THREATS
• Inappropriate metrics (e.g. immediate
application, number of patents, licensing
income)
• Insufficient funds for investigator-led
research
• Insufficient indirect cost support (or
equivalent)

34. International Alliance of Research
Universities (IARU)
IARU members are leading research universities that share a global
vision, similar values and a commitment to educating future world
leaders.
The 10 members are:
• Australian National University
• ETH Zurich
• National University of Singapore
• Peking University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Cambridge
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Oxford
• The University of Tokyo
• Yale University

35. Research at NUS addresses
Singapore Problems
LOOKING FORWARD - be ahead of the pack
Challenges Facing Singapore
Energy (more efficient usage, securing supply)
Environmental management / global warming
Risk of infectious diseases
Securing the food supply / human nutrition
Ageing and age-related disease
World insecurity / financial risks in Asia
Sustainable cities
NUS AND SINGAPORE AS TEST-BEDS FOR
SUSTAINABLE URBAN SOLUTIONS

36. A COMING PROBLEM FOR SINGAPORE
Proportion of population aged 65+ in
selected IARU countries
UK
DK
AUST 2030
2005
SG 1980
JP
CH
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
REUTERS/CORBIS Slide by courtesy of Dr Kenneth Howse, Oxford
Centenarians now constitute the University
fastest-growing age group owing to Source: UN Population database
advances in health care. The International Alliance of Research Universities
(IARU) is a collaboration between ten of the world’s
Source – Nature 467 (2010), 274- leading research-intensive universities who share
275 similar visions for higher education, in particular the
education of future leaders. IARU comprises ANU,
ETH Zurich, NUS, Peking, Berkeley, Cambridge,
University of Copenhagen, Oxford, University of Tokyo
and Yale University.

37. (Virtual) Institute for the Study of Ageing (VISA)
 Anti-aging medicine (ethical)  Basic aging / Neurobiology research
 Health care delivery / outcomes  Ageing & Lifestyle (nutrition, exercise etc)
 Social aspects (e.g. community support)  Housing for the aged
 Public policy (e.g. pensions)  Products for the aged
 Dementia centre  City design (e.g. public transport)
 Gerontology group NUS Schools
and Faculties /
Research
Institutes/
Centres Dementia Centre
Singapore Institute Human studies
for Clinical Subject cohorts
Sciences VISA Mild cognitive impairment
Human studies (NUHS)
Lifestyle and disease
Industry liaison prevention
Translational medicine/ Optimal environment
nutritional products (ageing in place)
Thought leadership
for Government and Social sciences
Basic Science charities Humanities
Disease-related Public policy
research Tsao Foundation
Cognitive assessment Duke-GMS
(NUHS) Global Asia LKY SPP
Institute Financial / risk
Exploring the identity management
of the 21st century
Asia city
Healthcare policies
Financing the elderly

38. What does VISA aim to do?
• Biological determinants of ageing well
• Environments that best support ageing well
• Fiscal, medical & other policy issues that can be optimised
to better support Singaporean ageing population

39. Interdisciplinary Research,
the Sustainability Cluster
NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI)
Formed to harnass our multiple ongoing research programmes in
several Schools/Faculties to address major issues.
Major Research Directions
(1) Water, Air & Land;
(2) Human & Environmental Health.
(3) Energy Systems
Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities
(School of Design and Environment)
To maintain Singapore as an excellent and functional liveable city

40. Sustainability Cluster
(Profs Tan Thiam Soon, Ong Choon Nam, Peter Ng)
Powerful cluster : good dialogue with funding agencies
NUS Global Asia Institute
Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities
Energy Studies Institute
Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore
Energy @ NUS Initiative
Centre for Total Building Performance
Energy Sustainability Unit
Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law
Institute of Water Policy / Other aspects of public policy (LKYSPP)
NUS Environmental Research Institute
Tropical Marine Science Institute
Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering
Minerals, Metals & Materials Technology Centre
Sustainable Energy Materials and Systems
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
Biodiversity programme
Centre for Hazards Research
NUS Schools and Faculties
40

41. Energy and Environment Cluster
Powerful cluster : Energy Office now
(Prof Tan Thiam Soon)
One-stop office on Energy Research, Energy
Energy Office @ NUS
Directions, and Energy Education in NUS
Exploratory NUS Global Asia Institute (GAI) NUS President’s initiative on Research and
Scholarship directed at topics pivotal to Asia’s future
Science
Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore Singapore’s national institute for Applied Energy
(SERIS) Research
Energy Studies Institute (ESI) A national policy-research institute in Energy
policies (economics, security and the environment)
Future
NUSNNI / FOE / FOS Research in areas of Solar Energy, Li-ion Batteries,
Technology Sustainable Energy Materials & Systems Hydrogen Production & Storage and Fuel Cells
Centre for Total Building Performance (CTBP)
Research in Tropical Building Design, Construction,
A BCA-NUS Centre for Tropical Building
Maintenance and Management
Research
Policy To develop course structure and training syllabus for
Implementation Energy Sustainability Unit (ESU) the Singapore Certified Energy Manager (SCEM)
training programme
NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI) Interdisciplinary research, education and expertise
in the environment affecting Singapore and Asia
Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES) To effect a total shift to Environmental Sustainability
Energy in all aspects of campus life
Sustainability Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Areas of focus include Asian Energy Security and
(LKYSPP) Energy Governance
Singapore Institute of Nuclear Science & An initiative on Nuclear Science and Engineering
Engineering Research (SINSER) programme
Centre for Behavioural Economics To understand and improve Energy Usage
Behaviours
41

42. NUS and SINGAPORE EXCEL IN MATERIALS
SCIENCE
NUS NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
(NUSNNII) / NANOCORE / SYNCHROTON LIGHT SOURCE /
GRAPHENE RESEARCH CENTRE
Research themes
• Oxide Electronics
• Spintronic materials
• Graphenes
• High density memories
• Nm scale imaging and patterning
• Charge transport in mesoscopic systems
• Materials for sustainable energy
• Nano drug delivery and diagnostics
• Active plasmonics
• Nanowire based device architectures
• New imaging technologies

43. STRENGTHS OF NUS
LIFE AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES CLUSTER
How to make a gobal impact in a fiercely-competitive
area?
NUS Life Sciences Institute (LSI)
NUS Centre for Life Sciences (CeLS)
Competitive Space for Integrated Life Science Programmes

44. What is our Translational
Medicine niche?
• Preferred site in Asia for validation & testing of new
diagnostics, drugs & devices in man for Asian diseases*
• Deep expertise in disease biology and world-class Proof –of-
Concept & early phase clinical trial capability with
international accreditation
• Close link of basic biomedical research, engineering, and
computing with clinical medicine
*Diseases more common in Asia, or
diseases where symptoms, outcome,
and pathology are different, as
compared to the rest of the world.

45. Research Programmes in
Life Sciences
Disease-related themes Underpinning Science & Technology
 Cancer  Molecular Epidemiology / Genetics
 Neurodegenerative disease Bioinformatics / Tissue Respository
 Vascular Diseases  Bioengineering/ Neuroengineering /
 Infectious Diseases Tissue Engineering
 Human nutrition / disease  Medicinal Chemistry / Toxicology /
Clinical Trials
revention
 Healthy ageing  Structural Biology
 Environmental microbiology  Immunology
 Lipidomics  Psychology / human cognition
 Neuroscience, neuroengineering
and cognition ALL CROSS-FACULTY, CROSS-DISCIPLINARY

46. Links to National University Hospital
NUS
Faculties of Engineering and Science,
BIOPOLIS School of Computing
A*STAR Physical & Computing
Sciences
NUS National
Life Sciences Translational University
Institute / CeLS
Schools / Faculties Research Health
System
 Tissue Repositories Translational
 Experimental Surgery Medical Centre
 Medical Imaging
 Molecular Pathology
 Investigational Medical Unit
 Bioengineering / Tissue Engineering / Neuroengineering
 Duke-GMS partnership
 Medical Ethics

47. National University Health System
(NUHS)
• NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
• Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies
• NUS Faculty of Dentistry
• National University Hospital
Research goals
• Generate multi-disciplinary, theme-based
research
• Establish proof-of-concept and efficacy in
humans
• Investigate the Asian phenotype
• Implement health services research
Examples
• Early diagnosis of gastric cancer
Centre for Translational
• Translational research in eye surgery Medicine (MD6)
• Metabolic medicine and diabetes in Asians
• Stroke types more common in Asia

48. Translational Research at the
Centre for Translational Medicine (MD6)
• 41,000 sqm
• 15 floors: 9 floors for Research, 6
floors for Education
• Clinical Imaging Research Centre
• A BSL3 lab for complex work in
Infectious Diseases
• Investigational Medicine Unit
• Cancer Science Institute, Singapore
• Other major programmes, including
cardiovascular medicine, neuro-
cognition, immunology, and metabolic
medicine (diabetes and obesity)

49. MAJOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE
Opening of the MD2 Vivarium, a “state of the art”
Green building
Isolation (Illinois) Sterile Storage: 9000L
Cubicle and Large Bulk Autoclave
Animal Housing
Dedicated Necropsy Large Holding Room for
Room with Small Animals
Ergonomic
Equipment
Dirty Side Cage Large Animal Operating
Wash: Rack and Room
Tunnel Washers

50. MAJOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE
AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of
Laboratory Animal Care – International)
• A private, nonprofit organization promoting the humane treatment of animals in science
through a voluntary accreditation program, a program status evaluation service, and
educational programs.
• Comprised of professional life science societies and is not a governmental agency.
• AAALAC is a voluntary peer-review process and certifies whether standards of
excellence in institutional animal care programs are attained and maintained.
• While 90% of the top 100 institutions receiving NIH funding are AAALAC accredited, only
45% of the institutions in Times Higher Education (THE) top 30 are AAALAC accredited.
Seventy-five percent of the top 15 THE institutions are AAALAC accredited.

51. JOINT INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH (THE KI EXAMPLE)
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH PROGRAMME
Centre for
Molecular
Epidemiology
 Profound changes in breast cancer incidence may reflect changes into a
Westernized lifestyle: a comparative population-based study in Singapore
and Sweden. Int J Cancer. 2005 Jan 10;113(2):302-6.
 Variation in the seasonal diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia:
Evidence from Singapore, the United States, and Sweden. Am J Epi. 2005;
162(8): 753-763
 Do Asian breast cancer patients have poorer survival than their western
counterparts? A comparison between Singapore and Stockholm. Breast
Cancer Res. 2009;11(1):R4.

52. Singapore Peking Oxford Research Enterprise
(SPORE)
SPORE-T SPORE-M
Technology Market-
Transfer oriented
SPORE-D technology
SPORE is a S$63 million Disciplinary
• Reduce, exploitation
Reuse and
initiative supported by the Development recycle (3R) • Green
• Highly technologies
National Research Foundation • Master’s and concentrated • Ecocity
through the Environment and Ph.D organic planning
programmes wastewater (Sinomen
Water Industry programme • Executive (HCOW) technologies
• River Ltd)
office, NUS, Peking University, training
ecological
programme
the University of Oxford, rehabilitation
competitive research grants
and industry partnerships.
Slide by courtesy of Prof Ong Choon Nam

53. ASSESSING RESEARCH
WHY IS ACCURATE ASSESSMENT
NEEDED?
• NUS OPERATES PERFORMANCE BASED PAY
(salary rises, performance bonuses)
• CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION AND TENURE REQUIRE PERFORMANCE IN
TEACHING AND RESEARCH (Excellent in one, good in the other)
• MINISTRY OF EDUCATION FUNDING INCREASINGLY HAS A “QUALITY
FACTOR”
• DECIDING WHERE TO INVEST CENTRAL RESOURCES TO CONVERT GOOD
TO EXCELLENT TO ALLOW US TO BID FOR SUBSTANTIAL COMPETITIVE
FUNDING
WHICH PEAKS OF
EXCELLENCE TO GROW?

54. RESEARCH ASSESSMENT
• Grant Income
• Count Papers
• Citations
• Journal Tiering (Tier 1 and 2 papers)
• Counting Patents / Licensing Income
Previously a 6-page form had to be
completed.

55. Assessing
Research Impact
What research are you doing
and
why is it important?

56. NUS SEEKS TO CONDUCT IMPACTFUL
RESEARCH
WHAT IS IMPACT OF RESEARCH?
• Outstanding fundamental research of high intellectual impact that attracts
attention to Singapore as a country capable of performing such research and
grows NUS’ global reputation
• Research which helps to grow new industries for Singapore and to develop
existing ones, e.g. by spin-offs and licensing of Intellectual Property (IP)
• Research that helps to attract high-level foreign industry to locate in Singapore
• Research that makes Singapore a better place to live and improves the health
and welfare of the population
• Research that expands intellectual breadth and develops ideas and discourses
about human experiences which will prepare us more effectively for an
increasingly global and cosmopolitan world
• Research that influences and informs government policy
• Research that enhances the security of Singapore (e.g. defence, food, energy
supply)
Note that the best research programmes often contribute in several of these areas.

57. Journal Tiering
• Introduced in 2001 by Provost Office
• Benchmarking tool for institutional performance
• Benchmarking tool to evaluate Dept/faculty performance against
external institutions.
• Reference list for academics seeking advice about quality journals
to publish in.
• Four categories
 Premium (Tier 1) – 10%
 Leading (Tier 2) – 20%
 Reputable (Tier 3) – 25%
 Others (Tier 4) – 45%
• The default is to list by subject-related impact factor plus “special
factors”.*
HERE LIES THE DEVIL!

58. Background of Journal Tiering
Past Exercises
Phase I (2001 - 2002)
 Fac/Sch tiered journals according to percentages
 External review conducted
 A total of 10,152 journals were assigned tiers
 2 separate lists maintained – Faculty list and University Consolidated List – to
deal with journals assigned different tiers by different Fac/Sch
Phase II (2003 – 2005)
 Fac/Sch updated journals tiered
 Additions not to exceed 5% of the total number of journals tiered in Phase I
 No external review but replaced by a suitable report that included reasonable
statistical calibration data
 A total of 10,439 journals were assigned tiers
Phase III (2007 – 2008)
 Proposed new model consisting Super Tier, Tier 1 and Tier 2
 Science and Medicine adopted
 Not adopted generally

59. Do we continue with Journal
Tiering?
No,
not at the University level
• Tiering still of value in some Schools/Faculties (e.g.
super-tier)
• Tier 1 numbers of journals should be decreased
• Less reliance on tier 1 for evaluation
• How should we deal with interdisciplinary research?
BUT THEN SEE WHAT HAPPENED!

60. End of an ERA: journal rankings dropped
Jill Rowbotham , From: The Australian , May 30, 2011 5:51PM
JOURNALS will no longer be assigned rankings in a radical shake up of
the Excellence in Research for Australia initiative, announced by
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr today.
JOURNALS will no longer be assigned rankings in a radical shake up of
the Excellence in Research for Australia initiative, announced by
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr today.
The ranking of journals as A*, A, B and C was the most contentious
aspect of the ERA exercise devised and administered by the Australian
Research Council, with the first results published in January.
“I wished to explore ways in which we could improve ERA so the aspects
of the exercise causing sector disquiet, especially issues around the
ranked journals list, could be minimised or even overcome,” Senator Carr
said in a ministerial statement.

61. EVALUATING RESEARCH, The NATIONAL
RESEARCH FOUNDATION VIEW
• High impact research (innovative, cutting edge, top-class local
researchers, outstanding new recruits, and collaborators)
• Building up manpower in Singapore (evaluation criterion for
Deans and Heads at NUS)
• Excellent execution (strong management team, good governance)
• Potential economic benefits (including good procedures to
“exploit” IP)
Other measures
• Quality of PhDs and post-docs trained
• Integration of research, teaching and industrial development?

62. THE MILLION DOLLAR QUE$TION
 How to evaluate interdisciplinary research
(IR) and correct misconceptions about
- what is IR
- the different types of IR
- who should do IR

63. SINGAPORE IS A SMALL PLACE
• International peer review of all major
grants/programmes is pre-eminent but NOT
SUFFICIENT
• Benchmark against:
 Other Universities with similar constraints, e.g. UC
Berkeley & UCSD (large teaching commitment)
 Other smaller countries that do very well in
research e.g. Sweden, Switzerland, Israel
 But also develop the (unique?) NUS view
Study failures as well as successes

64. Collaborations with Industry, NUS Enterprise
1. Education of NUS graduates as entrepreneurial leaders
 experiential education programs in entrepreneurship in Singapore
and globally
 supporting NUS student and alumni initiatives & networks related
to learning entrepreneurship
2. Facilitating the commercialization of NUS research
 Through a professionally-run industry liaison office services
3. Nurturing the creation of successful NUS spin-offs
 Through a professionally-run Incubator, seed-funding and
mentoring system
 Through leveraging NUS alumni network in business and
enterprise
4. Cooperation in graduate education

65. NUS Overseas Colleges
Experiential entrepreneurship education
immersing NUS students in leading entrepreneurial hubs
around the world
• ONE year
• Full-time interns in high-tech
startup/innovative companies
• Learn from the founders and
entrepreneurs
• Take courses at partner
universities

66. NUS Overseas Colleges
(2002) NUS College in Silicon Valley, USA
Study at Stanford & work in the innovation “habitat”
≈
(2003) NUS College in Bio Valley, USA
Study at UPenn & work in the US’ pharma hotbed
≈
(2004) NUS College in Shanghai, China
Study at Fudan & work in China’s commercial hub
≈
(2005) NUS College in Stockholm, Europe
Study at KTH/SSE & work in Europe’s No.1 IT hub
≈
(2008) NUS College in India – Experience India!
Attend Entrepreneurship workshops and work in India’s high-
tech hub
≈
(2008) iLEAD, Singapore
Study in NUS & work in Singapore’s knowledge- intensive
enterprises
≈
(2009) NUS College in Beijing, China
Study at Tsinghua & work in China’s high-tech hub
≈
(2011) NUS College in Israel
6 months internship in Tel Aviv/Haifa

67. NUS AND INDUSTRY
• Spawn new IP
• Support and help grow exciting
industry (Both “hard” and “soft”)
• Consultancy
• Attract high-level overseas industry
to Singapore

68. Interdisciplinary Research,
the Finance Cluster
• Risk Management Institute
• Institute of Real Estate Studies
• School of Business
• Asian Studies (e.g. demographics)
• LKY School of Public Policy
• Financial Mathematics
• Applied Economics
Prof HO Teck Hua
• Saw Centre for Quantitative Finance Vice-President
(Research Strategy)
Professor Ho Teck Hua is in charge of overseeing and building the University's Finance and Risk Management integrative research cluster. He
concurrently holds the Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professorship. Prof Ho has been a consulting professor to the NUS Overseas College in Silicon
Valley since 2002.
He received a B.S. with first-class honours in Electrical Engineering (1985) as well as an M.S. in Computer and Information Sciences (1989) from the
National University of Singapore. Additionally, from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, he received an M.A. (1991) and a Ph.D. (1993)
in Decision Sciences.
Prof Ho is currently the William Halford Jr. Family Professor of Marketing, and the Chair of the Marketing Department at the Haas School of Business
at the University of California, Berkeley. Ho has been a chaired professor at U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business from 2002, and is also the
Director of the Asia Business Center at the Haas School of Business from October 2007. Ho earned his tenure at The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania in 1999. He was Assistant Professor of Operations and Technology Management at the UCLA Anderson School of Management from
1994-1997.

69. WHY INDUSTRIAL LABORATORIES /
FACILITIES ON CAMPUS?
• High level, innovative, cutting edge, high
global reputation
• Access to facilities
• Joint participation in education
(undergraduate/graduate)
• Mutual benefit
• Spin-offs from NUS graduates / alumni

70. NUS works closely with Industry for
mutual benefit
Clinical Imaging Research Centre (CIRC)
• Partnership between NUS, A*STAR, and Siemens Medical
Solutions
• One of the first research sites in the world to use the Siemens’
MR-PET system
• Application to clinical and cognitive problems
Phase II: Planned Imaging Assets in 2011
• Research Cyclotron for Radio-labeling new
and novel compounds
• MRI-PET Soft Tissue Functional Imaging
• PET-CT High Resolution Functional Imaging
• SPECT CT Single Photon Imaging
CIRC@CeLS
Siemens Magnetom
Slides courtesy of NUHS Trio 3 Tesla MRI

71. NUS works closely with Industry for
mutual benefit
NUS-GE Singapore Water Technology Centre
A unique Industry-University laboratory collaboration
 GE-NUS partnership contributes to
GE Infrastructure Singapore as “global hydrohub”
Water & Process  Key Research Areas
Technologies - Water Quality & Sensors
- Sustainable Water Systems
- Membrane Innovation
- Water & Wastewater Reclamation
 Projects are carried out in collaboration
with NUS Environmental Research
Institute
 Analytical Services Laboratory at T-Lab
provides cost effective and timely
analyses

72. NUS works closely with Industry for
mutual benefit
Research and Development with Carl Zeiss SMT
• A joint R&D Agreement was signed with Carl Zeiss SMT to advance the microscope
facilities and research activities at NUSNNI in September 2009.
• NUS first in Asia to house the Helium Ion Microscope
• Novel advances made using the microscope will benefit the NUSNNI researchers,
while new applications of the technique discovered by the e researchers will, in turn,
enable Zeiss to further enhance the tool’s capactiy.

73. NUS works closely with Industry for
mutual benefit
NERI-Agilent Environmental Research Alliance
(NAERA)
• The research alliance involves installing state of the art instrumentation
for environmental research in the NERI laboratory
• The alliance is expected to drive NERI’s environmental research
programmes with access to new Agilent instrumentation
• In collaboration with NERI, Agilent will
showcase its instruments for a wide
range of environmental applications,
as well as develop new
instrumentation and software for
environmental applications

74. Conclusion
• All research in NUS should be excellent, mediocrity wastes
money and time, scarce resources in a small country.
• We should have several peaks of excellence competitive
for substantial external funding, in addition to quality
research in a range of areas.
• The mission of a global University is fundamental cutting
edge research and excellent education of the next
generation.
• But never forget what the Customer wants!

75. Thank YOU
Questions & Answers
MISSION
To transform the way people
think and do things through
education, research and
service