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Year in Review

Education

Research

New Collaborations

Benefactions

Inaugural events

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Year in Review

We launched new academic programmes, including two Cross-Disciplinary Programmes in Data Science and Economics, and Environmental Studies, new second majors, minors and specialisations, a new Scientific Inquiry module, and 13 Common Curriculum pillars to impart essential skills and intellectual foundations. CHS students have an unparalleled array of choices from 30 primary majors, 30 second majors, around 70 minors, some 20 specialisations and over 1,000 modules per academic year. The Special Programme in Science is also offering three new modules for CHS students to read integrated sciences.

We affirmed our standing as a faculty at the forefront of transformative science education and leading-edge research. The year’s milestones include the launch of the College of Humanities and Sciences, an expanded suite of postgraduate and Continuing Education and Training programmes, and a research collaboration with international energy giant Shell.

Undergraduate education

The College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) was launched on 8 December 2020 to provide an enhanced undergraduate experience for students of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. CHS’ new interdisciplinary approach emphasises the ability to draw connections, discover links and connect insights across disciplines.

NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye (centre) with CHS Co-Deans Prof Robbie Goh (left)
and Prof Sun Yeneng (right) at the launch

Graduate education

Msc Programmes
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In late January, we launched four new practice-oriented Master of Science (MSc) by Coursework programmes, namely the MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-based Climate Solutions, MSc in Biotechnology, MSc in Chemical Sciences and MSc in Physics for Technology. Together with the recently revamped MSc in Statistics which was launched in December 2020, we now have a suite of more than 10 MSc programmes, with more to come. 

Continuing education and training (CET)

Courses This year
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We further broadened our CET offerings. These now include new Graduate Certificates (GCs) in Biodiversity and Conservation, Biotechnology, Chemical Sciences, Physics for Technology, and Statistics. The GCs help the Singapore workforce build deeper knowledge and skills to stay ahead amidst technological change. This year, we also offered a suite of short courses in Data Science and Data Analytics to facilitate career advancement for working professionals. We will continue to develop high quality CET programmes for educators and Professional Conversion Programmes in response to evolving industry needs.   

Research

New Centre for Machine Learning and Data Science

The Centre was launched on 17 May 2021 to meet the challenges of the data revolution. It focuses on the synergy of mathematics, statistics and computer science in the domains of data science and machine learning, as well as artificial intelligence. It will organise and support research and educational activities and also consult on industry projects in the areas of data science and machine learning. The launch of the Centre took part in conjunction with a workshop on data science held at the Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

New collaborations

Shell-NUS Research Agreement collaboration

Researchers from the Faculty and international energy giant Shell will jointly develop novel processes to sustainably convert carbon dioxide, a byproduct of industrial processes, into clean fuels and useful chemicals for the energy industry.

The $4.6 million research programme is supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore and was formalised at a ceremony on 14 May 2021. 

(From left to right): Prof Sun Yeneng, Dean of Science, Emily Tan, General Manager, City Solutions, Shell Renewables and Energy Solutions, Aw Kah Peng, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore, Assoc Prof Jason Yeo, Department of Chemistry, and Prof Chen Tsuhan, NUS Deputy President (Research and Technology)

New student exchange programme (SEP)

We established a five-year SEP with City University of Hong Kong (CityU) from 29 March 2021. Our undergraduate Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics students are now able to read courses from various specialties across established and emerging science disciplines in CityU.

Benefactions

Blue carbon project

Temasek Holdings has pledged a gift of $3 million to the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, to be disbursed over five years, to develop a research programme on blue carbon ecosystems and nature-based solutions. This research project will develop a knowledge database of blue carbon stocks in the region and a toolkit for better blue carbon monitoring, reporting and verification with potential applications at scale.

The Centre also set up the Philip Lim and Catherine Lim Fund in recognition of a $450,000 gift from their benefactors. This will support its efforts to produce policy-relevant science on nature-based climate solutions, address knowledge gaps and build capacity amongst academic, government and corporate sector leaders.

NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye (front row, left) and SIT President Prof Tan Thiam Soon (front row, right) accepted the cheques on behalf of their universities from Primus Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prima Limited (front row, third from left)

Prima GIFT

Global food company Prima Group gifted $3 million for a professorship and scholarships to benefit research and education in food sciences. The Cheng Tsang Man Professorship in Food Science and Technology was set up to attract world-renowned academics to spearhead research. The gift will also nurture future generations of food scientists in support of Singapore’s long-term food resilience efforts. Primus CHENG, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prima Limited, presented the cheque to NUS President Prof TAN Eng Chye on 3 May 2021.

Inaugural events

Inaugural College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS)
e-Open House

The CHS e-Open House from 27 to 28 February 2021 featured a specially curated online programme, including talks on the CHS curriculum and academic programmes offered by the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Student ambassadors from both faculties shared on multidisciplinary learning and campus life. They also hosted virtual chat sessions for visitors.

A panel was convened for senior professionals from SkillsFuture Singapore, EY, Citibank and Organon and Co. to discuss the future of work and the value of interdisciplinary learning at the workplace.

Small group physical tours were also organised from 14 to 15 May 2021 for prospective students to visit both faculties’ educational, research and student facilities.

Inaugural CHS Case Competition

The competition was specially designed to enable NUS students to synthesise ideas and perspectives from different disciplines to solve real-world problems. The themes were sustainability and technology. At a virtual launch on 26 July 2021, our competition partners discussed plans by the Singapore government to usher in the future of electric vehicles (EVs), Schneider Electric’s vision of a 100% electric mobility future with net-zero carbon emissions and upcoming trends in mobility solutions identified by the advisory arm of KPMG. Close to 40 teams brought ideas from different disciplines to formulate solutions that encourage EV adoption in Singapore. The top three teams hail from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science and Yale-NUS College, a testament to the interdisciplinary nature of the competition.

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Box Story

New bent-toed gecko species in Timor-Leste

“We have barely scratched the surface of Timor-Leste’s biodiversity. New discoveries can have profound impacts on conservation and policy-making.”

In August 2022, we led an expedition to Timor-Leste in collaboration with Conservation International and the government of Timor-Leste. The Museum’s herpetologist, Dr CHAN Kin Onn, discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko which was named Cyrtodactylus santana, in reference to the Nino Konis Santana National Park, in which the gecko was discovered.