The view from singapore with British High Commissioner to ... - NUSS

“
NUSS - GeNerAl DiScUSSioN
– cAN NUS ProDUce A
NoBel lAUreAte?
Date: 27 September 2012
Venue: Kent Ridge Guild House
As NUS has only been
highly researchintensive
for seven to
eight years, it is still
too early to say,” Prof
Halliwell commented. “Maybe in
about 10 years, it would be a better
time to address this question.”
Noting that the reputation of
a university is highly dependent
on the quality of its research, he
believes that NUS can nurture for
Singapore niche areas in research of
high quality that are not yet wellreceived
or a focus by the research
community.
“Basic research can become
relevant down the road,” said Prof
Halliwell, citing as an
example of crop-yield
research being an area
that Singapore can focus
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on despite not being an
agricultural country.
researching for the
Future of Singapore
The question “Can NUS produce
a Nobel laureate?” was posed and
openly discussed at the NUSS-
General Discussion by keynote
speaker, Professor Barry Halliwell,
Deputy President (Research &
Technology) of National University
of Singapore (NUS).
During his keynote address,
Prof Halliwell outlined the research
thrust of NUS as being able to
address some of Singapore’s
problems and challenges such as
meeting the country’s energy needs,
global warming, food security and
ageing population.
“We cannot be excellent in
every area,” Prof Halliwell related,
“As NUS has only
been highly researchintensive
for seven to
eight years, it is still too
early to say... Maybe in
about 10 years, it would
be a better time to
address this question.”
HiGHliGHtS
adding that with limited funding and
resources, it can be hard to choose
what to focus on.”
Prof Halliwell elaborated that to
succeed in research and to get more
funding, NUS attracts new industries
and cooperates with industry
research institutes, such as GE
Infrastructure, which helps to grow
new industries and develop existing
ones as well as attract high-level
foreign industries to Singapore.
The attractiveness of NUS is
further enhanced by the newlybuilt
research facility, T-Lab, which
aims to serve as a University-level
Research Institute. It also promotes
cross-disciplinary research as well
as dialogue and exchanges between
researchers working on similar types
of research projects.
Prof Halliwell noted that research
inspires teaching that stems from the
holistic approach taken by himself,
and by extension NUS towards
research. In conclusion, to answer
the big question whether NUS can
produce a Nobel laureate at this
time, he strongly believes that in
short, the answer is “not yet”.
JAN-MAR 2013 THE GRADUATE 17