Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize

The Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) was first launched by the Provost Office in AY2006/2007 as an annual university-wide competition to encourage research and to recognise the best undergraduate researchers in NUS.

Through this competition, students develop their research skills for use in courses and other academic and professional pursuits; identify academic and career interests; learn about a new field; develop working relationships between classmates and faculty mentors; and provide them a glimpse of graduate life.

Entry Submission for OURP AY2023/24 is now OPEN!

Submission detail:

Please submit your entries to your HOME department (as per your primary major).

Submission Requirements:
Please provide the following in softcopy:

1. The Application form (Download it here)
2. The project report
3. Project abstract

Please provide the following in softcopy (zipped file):

1. The completed and signed application form in pdf and MS Word format
2. The project report in both pdf and MS Word format.
3. The abstract in MS Word format (Arial font / font size 11)
4. A recent photograph of yourself and/or your group in JPEG format

The deadline for submission is 28 March 2024 has been extended to Monday 5pm, 1 April 2024. If you are unable to submit the finalised full report by this deadline, please submit to us a best draft of your report with your important findings. NUS Faculty of Science reserve the right to reject any application submitted after the deadline.

Science OURP Winners – AY2022/23

IVAN NEO

Environmental Studies Major, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: The Diversity of Limno-Terrestrial Pygmy Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) of Nee Soon Swamp Forest

Year 2 Environmental Studies student Ivan NEO, who also reads a Minor In Geographical Information Systems, received the OURP for his project on pygmy grasshoppers in Singapore’s last substantial freshwater swamp habitat, the Nee Soon Swamp Forest (NSSF). His study documented, for the first time, the diagnostic features, habitat associations and notes on the natural history of each species of pygmy grasshopper found in NSSF. His work informs future efforts to clarify the taxonomy of pygmy grasshoppers and to monitor NSSF’s tetrigid biodiversity as well as its ecosystem health.

Abstract of Project:

Pygmy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) are insects associated with microhabitats periodically inundated by water. Being largely understudied, a lack of reliable morphological characters and high intraspecific variability has caused many misidentifications, creating much taxonomic confusion globally. Recently, morphometrics have contributed to delimiting morphologically cryptic species. Here, I explored the use of morphometrics in testing species delimitation through a study of tetrigid diversity in Nee Soon Swamp Forest (NSSF), Singapore’s last freshwater swamp habitat. One hundred and ninety-one specimens were collected, photographed, and identified, with 18 morphological characters measured and analyzed using tree-based methods to assess their effectiveness in sorting the different taxa. Principal component analyses (PCA) were used to test if intraspecific color morphs are species or mere variants. The species diversity-habitat associations of tetrigids in NSSF were also detailed. Tree-based methods provided sufficient sorting to genus level, while PCA was more effective in delimiting morphologically similar species. This diversity study of Tetrigidae in NSSF documents nine species, including new locality records, with notes on their natural history.

DONG HOANG VAN

Life Sciences Major, Individual Category AY22/23

Project Title: Engineering RBCEVs for Nucleic Acid Delivery

Year 3 Life Sciences student DONG Hoang Van, who also reads a Minor in Bioinformatics, received the OURP for discovering how extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from red blood cells (RBCEVs) can deliver nucleic acids to recipient cells, to regulate gene activity. He effectively demonstrated how RBCEVs incorporating synthetic nucleic acids suppress the COVID-19 virus. These findings offer the potential to develop novel therapeutic delivery methods using RBCEVs.

Abstract of Project:

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising therapeutic delivery vehicles due to their nature as membrane-derived nano-particles that are involved in cellular communication. While EVs have been explored for the delivery of many small molecule drugs, the large size and high-negatively charged nature of nucleic acids pose difficulties for their loading into EVs and delivery to the cells. In the study, we reported that extracellular vesicles derived from red blood cells (RBCEVs) can efficiently deliver nucleic acids, either anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASOs) or nanoplasmid DNA, to recipient cells. Using an improved procedure of saponin-assisted loading, we demonstrated that ASOs can be incorporated into RBCEVs and transported to cells to modulate gene silencing. RBCEVs loaded with helicase ASOs were capable of suppressing wild-type SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. Additionally, we also developed a strategy for efficient loading of nanoplasmid DNA to RBCEVs using loading reagents, REG1 and E1. We further validated the utilization of loaded RBCEVs for delivery of nanoplasmid DNA into recipient cells inducing high transgene expressions both in vitro and in vivo.

G SUTHERSHINII

Life Sciences and Psychology Majors, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: Engineering Fluorescently Tagged DENV sNS1 for Use in Elucidating In-situ sNS1 Structures on Endothelial Cells.

Year 4 G Suthershinii, who reads Double Majors in Life Sciences and Psychology, received the OURP for successfully engineering and characterising the structure and functions of a tiny dengue non-structural protein 1 (NS1) with a fluorescent tag. NS1 is a multifunctional protein secreted in infected host cells. Her work paves the way for further studies on dengue infections and the potential for therapeutic targets to treat dengue infections.

Abstract of Project:

Dengue Virus (DENV) infects ~400 million people worldwide. DENV can cause uncomplicated febrile fever or severe dengue hemorrhagic fever characterized by symptoms such as, vascular leakage, organ failure and potentially death. Dengue non-structural protein 1 (NS1), which is secreted into the bloodstream during infection, plays an important role in causing vascular leakage. Given the lack of treatment options for Dengue and more importantly severe Dengue infections, NS1 draws great attention in being a potential therapeutic target for reducing patient mortality rate. A pre-requisite toattention in being a potential therapeutic target for reducing patient mortality rate. A pre-requisite to designing effective therapeutics against NS1 is the understanding of its structures, especially, the in- situ structure – structure of NS1 bound to its cellular targets such as endothelial cells. However, one major obstacle in achieving the in situ NS1 structure, would be to locate it on the surface of cells for CryoEM studies given its small size. This could be overcome by using correlative light and electron microscopy (Cryo-CLEM), but first, the NS1 would have to be fluorescently tagged. In this project, we engineered, purified, and characterized NS1 conjugated to mVenus, a fluorescent protein. We have conducted CryoEM single particle analysis and showed that the purified NS1: mVenus protein retained its original NS1 stable structure. We also showed that it is functional, as evident by its ability to cause hyperpermeability in endothelial cells and inducing other cellular changes as observed through segmentation of cryo-ET tomograms. Using confocal microscopy, we observed that NS1: mVenus protein emits strong fluorescence when bound to cells. Taken together, the data collected shows that the protein is ready for future in situ structural studies.

KO HOR CHENG

Chemistry Major, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: Bis-fluorinatedphenylazides (FPAs) Photo-crosslinkers for Organic Heterostructure Devices

High-efficiency organic semiconductor devices are widely used today. However, a universal additive crosslinker that can link amorphous and crystalline polymers without degrading device semiconductor properties has yet to be discovered. KO Hor Cheng, a Year 4 Chemistry student, received the OURP for successfully synthesising two novel photo-crosslinkers into a stable and solvent-resistant network structure. Her work solves a longstanding challenge and paves the way for high-performance semiconductors.

Abstract of Project:

Solution-processable construction of polymer heterostructures and immobilization of the underlying layers emphasizes the indispensable role of polymer crosslinking for applications in advanced organic semiconductor (OSC) devices. Bis(fluorophenyl azides) (FPAs) have been demonstrated to crosslink conjugated semiconductor polymers when exposed to deep-ultraviolet light (DUV, 254 nm wavelength), rendering them insoluble and thus stabilizing their morphologies in devices. Upon photolysis, the azide moiety of FPAs could be efficiently excited to generate a singlet nitrene species. A covalent crosslink between two polymer chains could then be formed non-specifically by insertion of the highly reactive singlet nitrene into the unactivated C-H bonds on the polymer chains. However, a universal additive crosslinker that is capable of crosslinking amorphous and crystalline polymers without degrading the semiconductor properties has yet to be discovered. Hence, we report the development of two photo-activatable crosslinkers namely FPA8a and FPA8b. These were synthesized as sterically-substituted derivatives of FPAs (sFPAs) with monomethyl and dimethyl bulky substituent on the aromatic ring of fluorophenyl azides respectively. Structure of these sFPAs including evidence for the presence of azide group were spectroscopically characterised by NMR, UV-Vis and FT-IR techniques. Gel dose studies show that less than 10 w/w % FPA loading for high-molecular polymers is sufficient to achieve near unity polymer film retention.

NGUYEN ANH DUC

Mathematics and Data Analytics Majors, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: Gradient Methods for Partial Optimal Transport

Year 2 NGUYEN Anh Duc, who majors in Mathematics and Data Analytics, received the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) for his project to solve the Partial Optimal Transport (POT) problem. POT aims to find the best way to move mass between unbalanced distributions while minimising cost. He and his collaborators devised algorithms that can compute an approximate solution to the POT problem efficiently, with the potential to scale up. One of the algorithms proposed achieves the best theoretical complexity in the literature. The project has been accepted in the 38th Annual Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2024).

Abstract of Project:

In this study, we investigate two first-order methods to solve the Partial Optimal Transport (POT) problem between two unbalanced measures, each with n supports. The POT problem, which is the more robust version of OT, seeks to find the optimal way to transport some quantity of mass from one set of supports to another set of supports, while minimizing the total cost of transportation.

The first method we consider is based on Primal-Dual Accelerated Gradient Descent (APDAGD), which provides an approximate solution to the POT problem. The second method we consider is based on Dual Extrapolation, which achieves the best theoretical complexity in the literature. In doing so, we also introduce a novel rounding algorithm for the POT literature.

We conduct extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets to validate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms in practice. In particular, we demonstrate the use of POT solvers for the task of color transfer between two images of possibly different sizes. The partial mass transportation offered by POT offers much more flexibility than standard OT, making it a valuable tool for color transfer applications.

ERIC LEOW YU QUAN

Pharmaceutical Science Major, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: Clarification on Enzymatic Metabolism and Non-Enzymatic Degradation of Cocaine in Physiologically Relevant Matrices

Year 4 student Eric LEOW, who Majors in Pharmaceutical Science and Second Major in Computer Science, received the OURP for his project on the metabolism of cocaine. He found that the formation of benzoylecgonine from the breakdown of cocaine is mainly through nonenzymatic metabolism, challenging the current consensus that it is primarily driven by enzymatic metabolism. This study clarifies the interplay between enzymatic metabolism and nonenzymatic degradation of cocaine, which sets the stage for further studies on its disposition.

Abstract of Project:

Cocaine is one of the most used stimulants in the world, and it is also present as an active ingredient in Numbrino, a nasal spray commonly used in clinical settings. There has been interest in exploring potentially clinically significant drug-drug interactions between cocaine and other illicit substances such as marijuana and alcohol, possibly resulting in overexposure and severe toxicity of cocaine in humans due to changes in its disposition. However, fundamental inconsistencies of how cocaine is handled in the body still exist in literature currently. My project provides an important clarification to reconcile these disparities, by showing the relative contributions of various enzymatic pathways catalyzed by carboxylesterases 1 and 2 (abbreviated as CES1 and CES2 respectively), and non-enzymatic degradation that account for the elimination of cocaine. The non-enzymatic pathway was found to contribute to more than 90% of the total elimination of cocaine as compared to both CES1 and CES2 enzymatic pathways. Other enzymes such as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) were also found to significantly metabolize cocaine in human plasma, contributing to its elimination. Subsequently, my project explores possible drug-drug interactions between the active ingredient in marijuana and cocaine metabolism, before concluding that cocaine is not susceptible to metabolism-related drug-drug interactions (DDIs) compared to other substrates, as the non-enzymatic pathway plays a much more significant role in its elimination. Hence, I clarified the enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways of cocaine and demonstrated its low liability towards clinically-important DDIs with other xenobiotics.

LIM EN TONG

Pharmaceutical Science Major, Individual Category AY2022/2023

Project Title: Investigating Tumour-intrinsic Anti-phagocytic Mechanisms in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer associated with high relapse rates. Year 4 Pharmaceutical Science student LIM En Tong received the OURP for studying the expression of Cluster of Differentiation 47 (CD47) in drug-resistant AML cells and correlating its impact on immune evasion. CD47 is a protein on cellular surfaces that acts as a “don’t eat me” signal, preventing cells from being ingested by white blood cells. En Tong’s work sheds light on CD47 as a potential therapeutic target to mitigate relapse in AML patients.

Abstract of Project:

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a form of blood cancer with rapid expansion of abnormal blood cells in the bone marrow. With more than 50% of patients relapsing from standard chemotherapy, targeted therapies (TT) have emerged as an alternative. However, relapse from TT still poses a problem, and the underlying mechanism for resistance remains poorly understood. Growing evidence have suggested that an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment may facilitate resistance to cancer therapy, and tumors that relapsed from targeted therapy can escape immune detection.

Inspired by these findings, we investigated the levels and functional outcome of a “don’t eat me” signal, CD47, presented by AML cells during the evolution of resistance to TT. CD47 allow AML evasion from macrophage, which are immune cells capable of engulfing cancer cells in a process known as phagocytosis. Here we focus on two classes of TTs that were recently clinically approved for AML: BH3 mimetics and FLT3 inhibitor. We assessed their effects on AML cells in response to macrophage-mediated phagocytosis throughout the course of treatment. We show that CD47 level increase is a common feature upon various TT treatment, though the increase occurs at varied stages of resistance evolution. TP53 as a regulator of phagocytosis was also evaluated, with TP53 mutation found to be a vulnerability for phagocytosis. Our findings revealed CD47 as a major effector involved in early and late resistance to targeted therapies and provided insights on the potential of targeting CD47 as therapeutic to mitigate relapse in AML.

Science OURP Winners – AY2021/22

NG SHI JUN

Life Sciences Major, Individual Category AY2021/22

Project Title: The role of FEZ1 in developing neural circuits

I am truly honoured to be awarded this year’s Outstanding Undergraduate Research Prize. This award had been a great reflection of my undergraduate years in NUS and I would like to thank Faculty of Sciences and NUS for their recognition of the work put into this research that would motivate me to become a more competent researcher.

To start off, I am thankful to the Faculty of Sciences for their vast opportunities to conduct research such as Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROPS) which allowed me to take the first step to delve into research. The experience had been an exciting one despite the many failed experiments. However, the unexplored questions and challenges made me more resilient and curious which led to my stay in the field and my lab throughout my undergraduate years.

My Final Year Project (FYP) had been an especially tiring and challenging one, but it was incredibly worthwhile. Throughout the year, it was filled with disappointments, setbacks, successes and ideas. Most importantly, it was one that was filled with lessons. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, A/Prof John Chua for his guidance and support since I had joined his lab. My heartfelt thanks to my collaborator, Dr Huang Hua for his expertise, advice and guidance throughout my FYP and even till today. Not forgetting my lab members Dr Saravanan, Ms Rafhanah, Ms YiYang, Ms Wee Leng and Mr Shan Zhe who have been a constant source of moral support and joy in the lab. My lab members, both past and present, holds a special appreciation in my heart for their patience, guidance and support throughout my entire time in the lab and it is without a doubt that I could not have found a better laboratory to start my research career.

About the Project:

Neural networks form the fundamentals for higher order brain functions, with complex networks formed from the precise assembly of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. The orchestration of neural network assembly involves a tightly regulated spatiotemporal process involving migration, axodendritic development and synaptogenesis. Fasciculation and Elongation Protein Zeta-1 (FEZ1) is a molecular adaptor protein for Kinesin-1 and our previous study had established that a knockout of FEZ1 in days in vitro 1 (DIV1) primary hippocampal neurons not only impaired axo-dendritic development, but also its ability to respond to two guidance cues, Netrin-1 and Semaphorin3A, both of which are critical molecules in axonal guidance. However, it remains unclear how neural circuit establishment would be impaired in FEZ1’s absence. To further investigate FEZ1’s role in developing circuits, we monitored the development of FEZ1 knockout neurons in three specific areas: dendritic development, synaptogenesis, and its electrophysiological properties. It was found that FEZ1 knockout neurons exhibited delayed dendritic development and inhibitory synapse formation, suggesting the presence of other molecular adaptors that compensates for FEZ1 loss in later stages of neuronal development. Most importantly, delayed neuronal development suggested that neural network assembly would be disrupted, thus leading to potential neural circuit dysfunction and progression of neuropsychiatric disorders.

LIM SI EN, NICOLE

Pharmaceutical Science Major, Individual Category AY2021/22

Project Title: Identifying mechanism of resistance to venetoclax plus hypomethylating agent combination in TP53 mutant leukemia

I am deeply humbled to receive the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP). I am thankful to the Faculty of Science, Department of Pharmacy and Dr Shruti for the opportunity to undertake UROPS despite having no prior lab experience. I would like to extend my gratitude to the past and present members of the Bhatt Lab for their unconditional support throughout my project.  

As an undergraduate juggling my studies and lab work, there were many times I had to depend on my fellow researchers at the lab. Whenever I was busy with schoolwork, be it attending lectures or preparing for exams, it was reassuring to know that my friends at the lab were able to help me with my experiments. From changing media to reading plate results, I cannot remember how many times I reached out for help. Dr Shruti and my lab mates also offered much advice and guidance when I was doing my data analysis and preparing for my presentation.

I am thankful for our weekly lab meetings, journal clubs and data presentations. It was through these meetings that I learnt to be critical of the data presented, to not be afraid to ask questions and to give engaging presentations. These meetings played a crucial role in preparing me for my final UROPS presentation and Q&A session.

Overall, I had a very enjoyable time doing UROPS at Bhatt Lab and I am very grateful for all the guidance offered throughout my time there.

About the Project:

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer associated with low survival outcomes. The recent FDA approval of venetoclax-based combination therapy has provided a silver lining for patients aged ³75 years and those with comorbidities. However, AML patients with TP53 mutations have poor prognosis for venetoclax-based combination therapy, with complete response in only 40% of patients and a median duration of response of only 6 months. Thus, there remains an urgent need to improve clinical response in patients with TP53 mutations. In this study, we aimed to understand the mechanism of resistance to venetoclax and venetoclax combined with azacytidine in TP53 mutated AML cells. To investigate this, we utilised CRISPR-Cas9 edited isogenic MOLM-13-TP53 wild-type and mutant AML cell lines. We first demonstrated that TP53 mutants were less sensitive to venetoclax-based therapy as measured by cell viability and apoptosis assays. Next, we discovered that long-term venetoclax treatment induced higher DNA damage in TP53 mutants that also showed resistance to apoptosis. RNA-seq of in vivo acquired resistance to venetoclax in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) revealed upregulation of senescent genes compared to parental cells. Hence, we next hypothesised that TP53 mutants gained therapy resistance by triggering senescence in response to DNA damage caused by venetoclax. Indeed, we observed the loss of lamin-B1 and increased β-galactosidase activity in TP53 mutants compared to WT upon 7-day treatment with venetoclax, indicating presence of senescent phenotype in TP53 mutants. Finally, we found that MCL-1 inhibitor and CDK9 inhibitor can induce potent cytotoxic effects in TP53 mutants.

LIANG SHAO KAI, JEREMY

Chemistry Major, Individual Category AY2021/22

Project Title: Understanding the Role of MSMEG_0317 in Mycolic Acid Transport in Mycobacteria

I’m truly humbled and honored to be a recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) for AY2021/2022. Reflecting on my undergraduate experience at NUS, I’m immensely grateful for the research opportunities that have been provided by the Faculty of Science via the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science (UROPS), and the guidance that has been kindly extended to me by various Faculty members. As a Chemistry major, UROPS has provided me the platform to conduct research beyond the scope of my discipline. For example, I was able to be involved in nanomedicine-related research in the Department of Pharmacy in the earlier two years of my undergraduate studies, and biochemistry-related research in the Department of Chemistry in the last two years of my candidature. Through this platform, I was exposed to scientific research in the earlier years of my undergraduate studies, which has allowed me to uncover my personal research interests. For this, I’m thankful to be part of the NUS Faculty of Science.

This award would also not have been made possible without the guidance and mentorship that I have received from several key figures throughout my undergraduate research journey. In particular, this OURP entry project would not have been made possible without the support rendered by my FYP supervisor (Associate Professor Chng Shu-Sin) and my FYP mentor (Dr. Chen Yushu). I’m deeply grateful to Associate Professor Chng Shu-Sin for accepting me into his research group for UROPS during the third year of my studies, which subsequently expanded to my FYP in my final year. Under his patient guidance, my research skillset and thinking have been greatly sharpened. His immense knowledge in this field of research has also greatly inspired me as an aspiring Ph.D. candidate. I am also hugely indebted to Yushu for his incredible mentorship throughout my research stint in the Chng’s Lab, under which I have learned, improved, and grown tremendously as a researcher. I would also like to thank all the other members of the Chng’s Lab for all the encouragement and support extended to me over the past two years.

I also would like to thank my former supervisor, Associate Professor Giorgia Pastorin, for accepting me into her research group during the first year of my undergraduate studies. She has been an exceptionally encouraging and supportive figure in my academic and research endeavors, for which I’m truly grateful. I’m also thankful to my former lab mentor, Yi Hsuan, and former lab members: Wei Heng, and Choon Keong, all of whom have guided, helped, and accompanied me in my research journey in the earlier years of my undergraduate research experience.

About the Project:

As a leading cause of death globally, tuberculosis (TB) infections are notoriously difficult to treat. This is in part attributed to the mycobacterial outer membrane (OM) which confers Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB, with intrinsic antibiotic resistance. The mycobacterial OM is distinctively characterized by the presence of mycolic acids (MAs), which render it hydrophobic and impervious to various antibiotics. While the biosynthesis of MAs is well-studied, the exact mechanisms governing its transport from the inner membrane (IM) to the outer membrane (OM) remain largely elusive. In M. smegmatis, MSMEG_0317 is a protein predicted to be located at the cell envelope and is homologous to an M. tuberculosis protein that has been recently reported to interact with proteins involved in MA transportation. However, not much is known about the function or characteristics of this protein. In this project, we seek to characterize and understand the role of MSMEG_0317 in MA transportation through the use of a combination of genetic and biochemical techniques. We first showed that MSMEG_0317 is essential for mycobacterial growth and provided biochemical characterizations of this protein. We further demonstrate that MSMEG_0317 is likely involved in MA transport to the OM. Taken together, this work aids in improving the current understanding of MA transportation in mycobacteria and the identification of a potential new drug target against which new classes of antibiotics could be developed.

WEE WEN JUN

Physics Major, Individual Category AY2021/22

Project Title: Realising Defect-Free Arrays of Hundreds of Atoms using Reconfigurable Tweezers

Being awarded with the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) is a great honour. I am deeply grateful for the recognition of what was the culmination of over two years of my efforts. In particular, I am thankful to the Faculty of Science for the numerous opportunities to learn about and experience what scientific research is, such as the Germany Immersion Programme and Special Programme in Science (SPS). As a student at SPS, I am extremely fortunate to have met many staff and student mentors, especially Dr. Chammika, Neville, Sher Li and Prashaad, who provided guidance and imparted countless advice in the many undergraduate projects I did.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards my supervisor, Prof. Loh Huanqian, who entrusted me with this huge project. During my time in the lab, she has provided a conducive environment where I had the opportunity to learn skills from all aspects of the lab, the space to learn and work at my own pace, and express my opinions comfortably.  She has no doubt been a source of inspiration over the years given her passion, thoughtfulness, and brilliance. This would also not have been possible without the support and guidance of my lab mates, especially Weikun and Luheng who both started their PhD around the time I joined the lab and who I have both worked with very closely. Seeing the hard work that my lab mates put in constantly pushes me to improve.

About the Project:

Neutral atom arrays as a platform for quantum computations and simulations is growing to be a leading candidate due to its scalability to hundreds of qubits while maintaining high-fidelity individual qubit control. The main difficulty lies in preparing defect-free atom arrays in geometries of interest for quantum simulations of advanced materials, because the loading of single atoms in optical traps is probabilistic. A promising solution is to use acousto-optic deflectors to generate reconfigurable tweezers with programmable control. Using these tweezers, atoms can be picked up and rearranged in real time to form the desired geometry. In this thesis, we demonstrate the use of reconfigurable tweezers to rearrange atoms within tens of milliseconds to form defect-free triangular arrays. We start from a stochastic loading efficiency of 75% into the triangular array. Post-optimisation of the rearrangement process, our tweezer platform can consistently produce defect-free arrays of 225 atoms. These results are comparable against the state-of-the-art results published in Nature in 2021, where defect-free arrays of 196 to 256 atoms were produced. The methods developed in this thesis would open the door to detailed studies of spin frustrated systems with unprecedented control.

Science OURP Winners – AY2020/21

Tay Jingxin Uma

Food Science and Technology, Individual Category AY2020/21

Project Title: Texturisation of Pulse Protein-based Salmon Fillet Mimic by Dual-nozzle 3D Printing Approach

Words cannot express how honored and touched I am to be awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP). I am grateful to be part of NUS Faculty of Science, especially my department (Food Science and Technology (FST)), for exposing me to a strong research infrastructure and culture. Although I simply had endless questions, the FST lecturers were ever patient in guiding me towards finding answers towards them. They have developed in me a curiosity and confidence towards the potential that food research has in addressing my life-long ambition of developing plant and microbial-based mimics of livestock-derived products.

I am grateful to my supervisor (Associate Professor Huang Dejian) and co-supervisor (Dr Lu Yuyun) for the opportunity to explore the potential of dual-nozzle 3D printing in rational design and texturization of meat-like structures from pulse proteins. To maximize the capability of 3D printing, we decided on salmon as our mimic target. Salmon fillet has an intricate structure comprising of alternating thin layers of myomere (muscle) and myosepta (connective) tissues. Amongst the various challenges, the greatest to me was time management. Intensive sample analysis coupled with sensory evaluations nonetheless revealed that, even amongst the most promising additives and processing technologies, many failed to confer pulse proteins the functionalities needed. I am ever grateful to Prof Huang for guiding me in developing techniques to walk around the insurmountable obstacles, rather than fruitlessly attempt to scale these rocks. Persevering through these challenges made every small progress all the more rewarding. To have made the resemblance of our mimic this close to salmon surpassed what I could ever envision. I am ever grateful to my supervisors for their trampoline leadership; giving me the resources I needed to soar to new heights while providing a safety net through multiple consultations.

Fundamental to the success I had in developing the salmon mimic is my UROPS supervisor (Professor Zhou Weibiao) and co-supervisor (Andrea Koo). My UROPS supervisors inculcated in me the mentality and skills needed to perform a research project. The foundation they gave me boosted my efficiency in innovating the salmon mimic.

To all my lab friends, I appreciate you for your company, keeping an eye on my experiments and generous sharing of your expertise in operating equipment. In particular, Amelia, Chun Hong, Xinli, Xinlu, Xingyi, Yinglan and Yuzhu. To Ms Jiang Xiaohui, Ms Lee Chooi Lan, Ms Lew Huey Lee, Hanny, Jiaxuan and Shermaine of FST department, and Ms Lee Shu Ying of Medicine Confocal Microscopy Unit, thank you for the technical training.  To my family, thank you for your support and care all these years.

I am grateful to my PhD supervisors (Dr Prakash Arumugam, Prof Huang and Prof Zhou) for giving me the opportunity to continue my exploration of the unchartered waters of alternative proteins research.

About the project

With strong support from my supervisors, I successfully developed a 3D-printed plant-based salmon fillet mimic. Pulse protein-based emulsions were used as inks to simulate the myosepta and myomere tissues of salmon fillet. The myomere, which is the orange-red muscular tissue, is simulated as an emulsion-filled protein gel. Its colour was conferred naturally by red lentil protein and supplemented with high-intensity ultrasound extracted astaxanthin (the principal colouring pigment in salmon). Protein isolation from red lentil was optimized to address solubility issues arising from commercial protein extraction techniques. Whereas the myosepta, being the white-coloured connective tissue, was simulated as a yellow pea protein-stabilised emulsion. High pressure homogenization was performed to enhance printability. Incorporating these simulants in our 3D printing methodology not only matched salmon macronutrient content (including -3 polyunsaturated fatty acid), but also served to enhance resemblance macro- and micro-structurally. Besides aligning the inks into the characteristic internal structure of salmon fillet, 3D printing aligned constituent protein aggregates as reflected from confocal laser scanning microscopy coupled with scanning electron microscopy. Subsequent incubation of the printed mimic at 55 °C served to induce transglutaminase-catalysed cross-linking of proteins into fibrous network which transformed the mimic from a printable paste-like form into a firm structure. In the myomere simulant, widths of protein microfibers had good similarity to salmon myofiber (p < 0.05). Achieving anisotropy up to myofiber scale represents an advancement relative to conventional protein structuring approaches such as extrusion. Whereas, in the myosepta simulant, fibrous protein network coupled with comparable oil droplet size distribution to myosepta, reflects its promising potential to simulate fat release behaviour of myosepta. My work demonstrated that 3D printing followed by protein texturization is a promising approach to cost-effectively convert plant-based ingredients into high-resolution nutritious seafood mimics. These mimics can be further personalized according to taste and dietary preference of consumers.

Poh Yong Rui

Chemistry, Individual Category AY2020/21

New catalytic redox-neutral heterocycle synthesis

I am deeply honoured to receive this year’s Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the numerous opportunities that NUS and the Faculty of Science have provided. From the UTown College Programme (UTCP) to the Undergraduate Professional Internship Programme (UPIP) to the NUS Medical Grand Challenge (MGC) and many other equally engaging programmes, all these experiences have shaped me into a better researcher. In particular, the rigour of the research-intensive Special Programme in Science (SPS) has set in me a strong foundation in scientific thinking, and it was through this programme that I started building my professional network. After graduating from SPS, I stayed on as a Student Mentor to give back to the SPS community, and helping my juniors navigate through their academic and research lives was yet another eye-opening experience. NUS ignited my passion for research, and I am immensely grateful to all members of these programmes for making this a possibility.

At the heart of this award is my Final Year Project, the brainchild of Dr Ng Teng Wei, Mr Tao Ran and Associate Professor Zhao Yu. Indeed, my achievement today is the result of a collective and collaborative effort from this team, and I dedicate this prize to them. I truly appreciate the culture of trust and openness in this lab, for it empowered me to speak up with my ideas and exposed me to the harsh realities of research. For instance, my mentor, Mr Tao Ran, trusted me with important catalysis experiments from my first day in the lab and always gave me the room to explore and grow as a scientist. My supervisor, A/Prof Zhao Yu, has also been very supportive of my academic and personal endeavours, even going the extra mile to advise me on graduate school. I will always be indebted to them. Finally, I am grateful to all other members of the lab, for they made a gruelling day in the lab more delightful. Indeed, the inclusive and creative lab environment has been instrumental in my development as a young scientist as I tackled my first independent research project.

About the Project:

Pyrrolines are important structural motifs commonly found in biologically active compounds such as alkaloids of insects and animals. Asymmetric syntheses are needed to obtain these natural compounds in high enantiopurities for structure-activity relationship studies. However, few asymmetric syntheses of pyrrolines have been reported, and any available procedure requires expensive chiral reagents and stoichiometric reductants. To overcome these two drawbacks, we envision a stereospecific conversion of readily available enantiopure β-amino alcohols and aromatic methyl ketones into the corresponding chiral 2,5-disubstituted pyrrolines. By retaining the stereochemistry of the enantiopure β-amino alcohol in the product pyrroline, we avoid the use of expensive chiral catalysts and/or ligands typically needed to achieve asymmetric transformations. While this might appear to shift the cost of chiral compounds from the reagent (catalyst or ligand) to the reactant (substrate), the chiral reactant here – β-amino alcohol – is naturally occurring and cheaply available in its enantiopure form. Therefore, our method provides a cost-effective way of introducing chirality to the system. Furthermore, our reaction is realised using iridium-catalysed borrowing hydrogen methodology, a redox-neutral approach that avoids the use of stoichiometric oxidants or reductants. This makes our method atom-economical and environmentally friendly. After screening for different catalysts, bases, solvents and Lewis acids, good product enantiomeric excesses (ee’s) were achieved (94% product ee from >99% substrate ee). Unfortunately, the complexities of borrowing hydrogen pathways, especially the possibility of numerous side reactions, made it challenging to achieve satisfactory reaction yields (only up to 10% yields were observed). Reasons for these obstacles have been identified through detailed mechanistic studies, and further improvements are currently underway in the group. Ultimately, besides offering alternative bond disconnections during retrosynthetic analyses, our method provides greater convenience when planning an enantioselective synthesis of pyrrolines and other related heterocycles.

Tan Heng Lin

Pharmacy, Individual Category AY2020/21

Investigation of the arcane inhibition of human organic anion transporter 3 by benzofuran antiarrthymic agents

I am honoured and grateful to be selected as a recipient for the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Chan Chun Yong, Eric, my co-teachers Mr. Tang Wei Tat Lloyd and Mr. Chin Sheng Yuan, as well as the other members of the Metabolic Profiling Research Group (MPRG) for all the guidance, support and encouragement they have provided throughout the project.

As an aspiring pharmacist, I am deeply grateful to the Department of Pharmacy and Faculty of Science for the opportunity to be able to contribute to the knowledge base which may one day be applied in clinical practice for the betterment of patients.

About the project:

The combination of drugs used to regulate heart rhythm, amiodarone or dronedarone, with the blood thinner rivaroxaban is used clinically in the management of atrial fibrillation. However, interactions can occur between amiodarone or dronedarone and rivaroxaban at the kidneys, leading to increased levels of rivaroxaban in the body and risk of major bleeding.

This project extends knowledge on the mechanisms and intricacies of how medications used in the management of atrial fibrillation can interact with each other, potentially increasing the risk of major bleeding. Future applications of this data may include guiding clinical decisions on when such combinations of drugs should be avoided, allowing suitable patients to experience the benefits from the drug therapy without being placed at excessive risk of bleeding.

Mok Wai Keong

Physics, Individual Category AY2020/21

Optimal Probes for Global Quantum Thermometry

I am deeply grateful and honoured to be awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Prize for AY2020/21. I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Kwek Leong Chuan for the many years of guidance and support, as well as the many research opportunities since my first year in NUS. Working through the various projects over the years has greatly deepened my knowledge in the field and allowed me to develop as an undergraduate researcher. A huge thanks to my collaborators Prof. Abolfazl Bayat and Kishor Bharti for the countless stimulating and insightful discussions, without whom this project on “Optimal Probes for Global Quantum Thermometry” would not have been possible.

Beyond this project, I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the other members of Kwek’s group at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) for being great role models for me to learn from and be inspired by. Last but not least, I would also like to thank my supervisors from A*STAR, Dr. Zhang Wenzu and Dr. You Jiabin, for the immense help and guidance at the beginning of my research journey a few years back, which have fuelled my passion for research.

About the project:

Quantum thermodynamics has emerged as a separate sub-discipline, revising the concepts and laws of thermodynamics, at the quantum scale. The precise measurement of temperature has numerous applications from our daily lives to almost any quantum experiment. From a practical viewpoint, measuring very low temperatures at the quantum level mandates unprecedented precision and advanced refrigeration. In particular, there has been a disruptive shift in the way thermometry and thermometers are perceived and designed. Currently, we face two major challenges in quantum thermometry. First, all of the existing optimally precise thermometers are local, meaning their operation is optimal only for a narrow range of temperatures. Second, aforesaid optimal local thermometers require complex energy spectrum with immense degeneracy, rendering them impractical. Here, we address these challenges by formalizing the notion of global thermometry leading to the development of optimal thermometers which work for a wide range of temperatures. We observe the emergence of different phases for such optimal thermometers as the operating temperature range increases. In addition, we show how the best approximation of our optimal global thermometers can be realized in spin chains, implementable in trapped ions and quantum dots.

Chang Qing Liang Joel

Mathematics, Individual Category AY2020/21

Risk-Constrained Thompson Sampling For CVaR bandits

I’m honoured to be awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP). I am thankful to the Faculty of Science and for Assoc Prof (A/P) Vincent Tan to provide me with the privilege to experience first-hand undergraduate research in Mathematics. A/P Tan introduced me to the topic of multi-armed bandits (MAB), a classic problem in reinforcement learning. Ironically, this research topic is a form of applied probability, which I did not have very strong intuitions for. Nevertheless, with encouragement from A/P Tan, his PhD student Qiuyu, and friends in school and in church, I persevered and completed the formidable tasks of designing, simulating, and proving the efficacy of my algorithm, set before me.

The biggest lesson I learned from this project is that failure is the mother of success. Before making any substantial breakthrough, I needed to try tens of other methods that did not work, be it due to careless arithmetical mistakes, or strategies that did not work. I struggled throughout the process, and received continual encouragement from A/P Tan and my friends to persevere through the repeated failure. Eventually, with much help from my A/P Tan and the existing literature, I proved that the efficiency of our algorithm grew logarithmically, and was competitive with existing L/UCB-based algorithms. This project taught me the crucial quality of perseverance when doing research, and prepared me to face the vicissitudes of life with even more tenacity than before.

Once again, I would like to thank the Faculty of Science and the Department of Mathematics for being crucial empowerments in the process. The dedication of the teaching faculty in articulating the fundamental mathematical prerequisites was quintessential in accomplishing the challenges that research in Mathematics offer.

About the Project:

The multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem is a ubiquitous decision-making problem that exemplifies the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. Standard formulations exclude risk in decision making. Risk notably complicates the basic reward-maximising objective, in part because there is no universally agreed definition of it. In this project, we consider a popular risk measure in quantitative finance known as the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). We explore the performance of a Thompson Sampling-based algorithm CVaR-TS under this risk measure. We provide comprehensive comparisons between our regret bounds with state-of-the-art L/UCB-based algorithms in comparable settings and demonstrate their clear improvement in performance. We also include numerical simulations to empirically verify that CVaR-TS outperforms other L/UCB-based algorithms.

Science OURP Winners – AY2019/20

Ravinraj S/O Ramaraj

Physics, Individual Category AY2019/20

Project Title: Construction of an Experimental Platform for the Trapping and Cooling of Strontium

I am immensely grateful and deeply honoured to be awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize for AY2019/20. My undergraduate experience in the Faculty of Science has been filled with countless opportunities for furthering my passion in scientific research, particularly from my time in the Special Programme in Science (SPS). In my first two years as a student at SPS, the staff and student mentors imparted an incredible amount of wisdom to me from their vast experience. They helped me initially develop my professional network, and to understand the real challenges that a research student or professional would face. As a student mentor at SPS, I later learnt how to guide newer students in this field and had the opportunity to approach similar research problems from a new angle. I will always be indebted to the members of SPS, past and present, for their patience and guidance throughout my time there.

I would also like to thank my supervisor, Assistant Professor Travis Nicholson, as well as the rest of the lab that I have worked with over the past year. While I tackled this learning curve, he and the rest of my mentors in the lab showed nothing but empathy, support and understanding. It has been an incredibly wholesome experience learning from my supervisor, mentors and colleagues over this last year. In addition to my lab group, I have truly enjoyed working with everyone at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT). The countless impromptu discussions that began over an afternoon coffee at the Quantum Café have never failed to spark some insight that has helped me at some point or another in my pursuits.

As with anything I have previously accomplished in my university experience, this would not have been possible without my mentors. They deserve this success as much as I do, and I am eternally grateful for their support.

About the Project:

Quantum states of matter play emerging roles in furthering mankind’s computational arsenal, providing robust frequency standards for accurate timekeeping and the development of solutions to previously unsolvable problems. While many quantum systems have to be idealised for theoretical purposes, real-world manifestations of these systems exist in the form of ultracold neutral atoms. Particularly, we identify strontium as a strong contender for fulfilling many of these aforementioned roles. Owing to its ultranarrow clock transition, versatile isotopes and corresponding level structures, strontium can be employed in a multitude of quantum technologies for the development of experimental platforms. To access this potential of strontium, we propose a platform for the trapping and cooling of strontium down to the ultracold regime (less than one millionth of a degree above absolute zero), where it can be employed in a range of possible experimental configurations. This thesis details the construction and stabilisation of the necessary laser systems for the two-stage cooling of strontium to this regime. Specifically, I elaborate on the development of the systems necessary to slow the strontium atoms from their initial supersonic velocities to their final ultracold states. This is carried out through multiple transverse cooling stages, a Zeeman slower and ultimately a double-MOT cooling setup.

Tan Wee Ling

Applied Mathematics Major, Individual Category AY2019/20

Project Title: Machine Learning Theory and Malicious Software Detection based on Generative Adversarial Networks

I am deeply grateful to my supervisors Asst. Prof. Tong Xin, Thomson and Dr. Tram Truong-Huu for all the guidance they have provided in this project. Prof. Tong has allowed me the freedom in choosing my research area and has given me the encouragement to collaborate with others. Most importantly, he has given me a listening ear where I was able to speak about my future plans beyond the project. I will remember his advice to live and pursue endeavours which I truly love. Dr. Tram has given me the invaluable chance to work with him at the Institute for Infocomm Research. He has also provided me numerous opportunities for connecting with other researchers. He has been very welcoming of questions, having conceptual discussions, and has inspired me with a multitude of important research directions along the way. Throughout my research, I was constantly motivated by his advice to achieve progress.

I would like to express my appreciation to the Faculty of Science and the Department of Mathematics for the myriad of opportunities that have made my undergraduate experience both enriching and memorable. I have benefitted greatly from the community as well as the resources rendered from the faculty which have supported my learning journey. I will look back on this place with fond memories in the future.

I am honoured to be the recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize, and this is an award which I will cherish for all the knowledge and experiences I have gained throughout my research project. This experience has opened my mind to scientific research and to appreciate the importance of keeping a structured path despite uncertainty.

About the Project

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have gained significant attention as implicit density generative models due to their ability to model complex distributions of data. However, classical GANs are known to exhibit undesirable characteristics such as training instability, mode collapse and the lack of an inference mechanism. With these caveats, we provide a fundamental study of variants of GANs which include Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks (DCGANs) and Adversarially Learned Inference (ALI), also known as Bidirectional Generative Adversarial Networks (BiGANs).

Despite the use of deep learning frameworks, challenges remain in the classification of malicious software. Detection models are also prone to malicious software obfuscation techniques and adversarial samples. In this project, we build a malicious software detector and devise a methodology of data augmentation with generated samples of binary Portable Executable (PE) benign and malicious software using DCGANs and ALI. We address a gap in current research by conducting a comparative study of the effects of these different approaches to data augmentation. Our empirical results demonstrate that the improvement in the performance of the baseline detector is consistent when samples are generated using DCGANs and ALI. The baseline detector also exhibits robustness to test set manipulation when trained using our approach.

LIM LI JUN

Chemistry, Individual Category AY2019/20

Project Title: Synthesis of Colloidal Core-Shell Indium Arsenide Quantum Dots

I am deeply humbled and thankful to be one of the recipients of this year’s Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP). This OURP entry, titled “Synthesis of Colloidal Core-Shell Indium Arsenide Quantum Dots” would not have been possible without the help and guidance rendered from Prof. Tan Zhi Kuang as well as all the members in Prof’s Tan laboratory: Hadhi, Baisheng, Andrew, Cheryldine, Chenchao, Tian, Xiaofei, Daryl, Evon, Garrick, Zhi Yi and Eric. They were always ready to lend a helping hand in time of need. Not forgetting the casual conversations that we engage in during our experiments which made my time spent at the lab a lot more enjoyable and fun-filled.

In particular, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my mentor, Hadhi. Entering the lab with no prior knowledge, Hadhi has guided me patiently from scratch. Hadhi also never fails to provide me with valuable pointers and feedback on how to further improve my experiments, for which I am extremely grateful for.

Lastly, I would also like to thank my friends, Coco, Zhen Jia, Joey, Jasmine and Xue Zi who have been encouraging and spurring me on throughout the project.

About the Project:

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have attracted substantial interest over the years due to their size-tunable emission colours. Among many, Indium arsenide (InAs) based QDs, which contains no ‘Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS)’ regulated heavy metals (cadmium, lead and mercury) show immense potential in substituting the commonly applied cadmium containing QDs in next generation lighting applications.

In particular, near-infrared (NIR) lighting plays an increasingly important role in new facial recognition technologies and eye-tracking devices, where covert and nonvisible illumination is needed. This can be fulfilled by our NIR light-emitting diode (LED) based on In(Zn)As–In(Zn)P–GaP–ZnS QDs, with high external quantum efficiencies.

We also demonstrate the first realization of green emitting InAs based QDs, ZnSe-In(Zn)As-ZnSe-ZnS. The QDs display good photoluminescence quantum efficiencies and its colour emission is tunable throughout the entire visible region. These QDs can find significant utility in new generation of lighting and display technologies.

Moreover, both of our QDs have low levels of arsenic content (<2%), made possible by the judicious design of the QDs structure and synthesis. This thereby permits broad application in consumer optoelectronic products.

Ong Shujian

Department of Biological Sciences, Individual Category AY2019/20

Project Title: Precision Engineering of Cell-based Meat Scaffolds

I am greatly honoured to be awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) for my research project on cell-based cultured meat. To work on cell-based cultured meat has always been my dream and I deeply appreciate the recognition and validation of my work through this award. I hope to be able to continue research into cell-based meat and contribute towards development and commercialization of an animal-free meat production system and help Singapore attain its food security goals.

I would like to express sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hanry Yu, for his invaluable mentorship. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to conduct independent research with real world applications as an undergraduate student. Under his mentorship, I was trained in both scientific research and commercialization of technology, truly valuable skills for translational research. I would also like to thank Dr Eliza Fong, Dr Sun Min and Jordan Tan for training me when I first joined the lab for my UROPS projects, and Dr Deepak Choudhury for mentoring me during my internship in SIMTech Biomanufacturing Group. Appreciation also goes to Russell Tan, Nichole Tan and Luke Ooi for assisting with the experiments. Lastly, I would like to thank members of the Translational Mechanobiology Lab – from the Confocal Microscopy Unit, the Department of Physiology and Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology – for their technical and scientific assistance, I have truly learnt a lot from everyone.

Science OURP Winners – AY2018/19

YEO XI JIE

Physics, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: Spectral Compression of Narrowband Single Photons

Being awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) was a really encouraging experience on my journey in becoming a researcher that can make my contribution to society via science. It showed me that my efforts are putting me on the right track, yet it is also a reminder for me to stay humble and to work even harder in order to get there. The prize money itself also allowed me to fund myself for a trip to an overseas conference after my graduation, and purchase some technical books that I have been interested in.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank my supervisor Professor Christian Kurtsiefer and his group for taking me in early on in my undergraduate career as a UROPS student. Under the tutelage of himself and the experienced researchers and students in his group, I was able to pick up skills (both in and out of the lab) that are necessary to becoming a researcher. These skills acquired did play a huge role in being able to be awarded the OURP in my final year project with him. Apart from the skills I learnt, I would also like to thank Christian for being supportive in my journey in becoming a full-fledged researcher, always ready to help us with any help he can (supporting us for conferences/workshops or writing commendation letters for us). A special thank you also goes to Mathias Seidler here, the PhD student (and will l be doing his defence soon) whom I was working closely with throughout the course of this project.

I would also like to thank the Faculty of Science and the Department of Physics for giving us students the opportunities and encouragement to gain first-hand experience learning from the world-class researchers we have here in NUS. Also, I would like to thank Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) for providing such a lovely environment here which facilitates productive collaboration and discussion between scientists and aspiring scientists interested in the field of quantum technologies.

About the Project

There is an increasing interest in establishing a distributed network of quantum computers, and this interest is not limited to the scientific community, as governments and large corporate organisations around the world are investing more into its research. A core component in realizing this quantum internet is the transfer of quantum information between nodes of quantum computer a. A proposed method of transferring this quantum information is by interacting individual photons with the atoms located at each node. A key factor in efficient photon-atom interaction is the frequency distribution matching of a photon with the corresponding atomic transition. However, some of the conventional techniques to produce individual photons has a frequency distribution 2 to 6 times broader than the corresponding atomic transition’s frequency distribution; a mismatch. Current methods to achieve this matching involves the frequency filtering of photons, which result in the loss of photons from the system. This is not ideal as single-photon sources already have low intensities to begin with, and filtering the photons further dims the source. In my project, I successfully performed a first demonstration in a brightness maintaining method compressing the frequency distribution of 795 nm single-photons by a factor of 2

NG KAI MING NICHOLAS

Pharmacy Major, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: Inactivation of Human Aldehyde Oxidase‐1 by Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and their Impact on Therapeutic Drugs

A pharmacist’s role in the scientific domain remains understated till this date. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to broaden the horizon of scientific knowledge from a pharmacist’s point of view. Our entire pharmacy curriculum places patient welfare at the forefront of our decision making process. This is our edge that we bring to the table and I hope that we can continue to serve the community not just clinically but also scientifically.

I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Lau Aik Jiang, for her unwavering support and guidance throughout my short yet fruitful FYP journey. Her kind words of wisdom shall remain with me for the years to come. My deepest gratitude to Dr Yeap Szu Ling, Dr Sumit Bansal, Michelle Chen Shiyan and my peers for providing the upmost assistance in resolving the difficulties I have faced.

The deepest lesson I have learnt throughout the project is the value of perseverance. Much of the blood, sweat and tears we shed is unseen but the final result may just surprise you.

About the project

Aldehyde oxidase (AOX) enzyme is the lesser known cousin to the cytochrome P450 enzymes. In this study, I discovered a novel potent inactivator of AOX and showed the significant impact of AOX inactivation on an anti-cancer drug metabolized primarily by AOX. By studying how certain anti-cancer medications interact with the AOX enzyme by different mechanisms, the findings suggest how this interaction can affect the metabolism of other clinically used medications. I hope that these findings can someday contribute to future healthcare guidelines.

LIM KANG RUI GARRICK

Chemistry Major, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: Multi-core-shell quantum dots for solar harvesting applications

I am deeply humbled and honoured to be considered for and awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP) AY 2018/2019. As I reflect on my journey as a budding undergraduate researcher in NUS, I am thankful for countless research and mentorship opportunities offered by the Faculty of Science (FoS). Under the Special Programme in Science (SPS), I was exposed to scientific research and communication early on in my undergraduate career in Years 1 and 2 – it was then I learnt the value of collaborative and inter-disciplinary work. Subsequently, the FoS Undergraduate Professional Internship Programme (UPIP) provided me the opportunity to experience first-hand industrial research at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). I dedicate this prize to the many mentors who have guided me through my undergraduate research projects, and especially to Prof. Tan Zhi Kuang’s laboratory.

This OURP project, entitled “multi-core-shell quantum dots for solar harvesting applications” was my final year project (FYP), supervised by Prof. Tan Zhi-Kuang and mentored by Dr Hadhi Wijaya. This project would not have achieved its success without the guidance and support of Prof. Tan and the rest of the NIR team: Dr Hadhi, Daryl, Tian, Xiaofei, Evon, Chenchao, Li Jun and Zhi Chiaw. Dr Hadhi was instrumental in getting me up to speed and I have learnt so much about synthetic chemistry and equipment management from him. Dr Hadhi was also my role model to emulate as a mentor – a patient and effective mentor who often selflessly puts his students’ interests before himself and above all, a team player well-liked and respected by the entire laboratory. I thank Prof. Tan and the NIR team for valuing my input and contributions for they afforded me responsibilities and freedom rarely granted to undergraduate students. To this end, I have found myself growing tremendously as a researcher and could not have found a better laboratory to make my transition from my undergraduate career to graduate studies. A special appreciation goes out to the rest of Prof. Tan’s laboratory, past and present. They were always ready to lend a helping hand in a highly collaborative and positive environment – days in the laboratory were made less dull and less mundane with these people.

About the Project

Infrared emitting materials with a large Stokes shift are technologically important for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) and for bioimaging applications. The design of III-V quantum dots (QDs) for these applications necessitate the understanding and use of band gap engineering to synthesize core-shell QDs with high photoluminescent quantum efficiency and minimal absorption-photoluminescence (PL) overlap. Here, we describe the first realization of two new quaternary giant shell QDs with efficient PL in the near-infrared (NIR): InAs-In(Zn)P-ZnSe-ZnS and In(Zn)As-In(Zn)P-GaP-ZnS. Our results provide a highly convenient protocol to synthesize highly luminescent and spectrally tunable NIR core-shell QDs for consumer opto-electronic products and biological applications. We further anticipate that our experimental and computational results will provide scientific insights into future NIR core-shell QD designs.

MAVIS KANG PEI LIN

Chemistry Major, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: Optimising the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Ethylene and Ethanol using Gas Diffusion Electrodes

I am deeply honoured to receive the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. This award is an excellent form of recognition for undergraduates gaining research experience and demonstrates the University’s support for budding researchers. It encourages undergraduates to take failures in their stride, while developing innovative and creative solutions to tackle future global issues.

The Faculty of Science provides many opportunities, such as the Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Science (UROPS) as well as overseas research attachments, for undergraduates to understand what research is truly like and to be exposed to the various fields of research available in their major. I was also fortunate to be part of the Special Programme in Science (SPS), which was instrumental in shaping my research experience. SPS provided a safe environment to not only freely express and test out my research ideas, I could also explore beyond my major. Having mentors with knowledge of the various fields vastly facilitated the learning process when it came to research and experimentation. In addition, the multidisciplinary nature of the SPS modules encourages exchange of ideas and perspectives with students of other majors in an intellectually‑stimulating environment.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor Associate Professor Yeo Boon Siang Jason for giving me the opportunity to join his research group and guiding me throughout the year‑long final year project journey. He was very patient and encouraging, despite all the failed experiments and the setbacks I faced. He also provided many insights which allowed me to better understand the fundamental ideas and developments in electrocatalysis. Additionally, I am extremely thankful to all members of the Electrocatalysis Laboratory for their valuable and timely advice and for making my research experience such an enjoyable one.

About the Project

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) has the potential to both lower atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and to produce useful chemicals and fuels. However, the electrochemical CO₂RR activity is greatly limited by the low solubility of CO₂, which causes immense mass transport limitation to the process. Use of gas diffusion electrodes can circumvent this obstacle. In this study, we demonstrated the potential of using gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) for production of ethanol and ethylene. Leveraging the tri-phase catalytic interface that GDEs offer, we also developed a novel layered bimetallic catalyst structure which can electrochemically convert CO₂ to ethanol with high selectivity and electrochemical activities. This highlights the potential of using the GDE for the high throughput conversion of CO₂ to C₂ molecules and is a key step towards the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide into useful fuels.

YAP JIT WU

Mathematics Major, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: On DeBacker’s parametrization for Orthogonal Groups

I am honoured to have been chosen as a recipient for the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. This project was done under the Overseas UROPS at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and I am grateful to the Faculty of Science and NUS for this opportunity. I would also like to thank Dr. Ma Jia-Jun, who served as my research supervisor and has been very patient guiding me through the project.

Unlike the coursework one usually takes in NUS, research need not have a clearly defined scope nor have an answer waiting at the end. At the beginning of the project, the problem we solved was not in our mind and only arose after much exploration. This experience has greatly enlightened me on what research is about, and to keep an open mind on different perspectives.

Throughout my undergraduate years, I have greatly benefited from the various mathematical courses I have taken, especially those under the Special Program in Math (SPM). I would like to express my gratitude to the Department of Mathematics, and to the professors who have taught me, for the project would not be successful without the foundations they have given me.

About the Project

Nilpotent orbits are objects that play an important role in representation theory. Previously, Stephen DeBacker found a way to parameterize them using a geometric structure known as the Bruhat-Tits Building. Later, Monica Nevins compared DeBacker’s parametrization with other known parametrizations for the Sympletic group, as a means of understanding DeBacker’s parametrization better.

Our project extends Nevins’ work to the case of the Orthogonal group. On the way, we proved a general result regarding the dimension of the facet associated to a nilpotent orbit. With this, we collaborated with Nevins to extend her results to all classical groups.

HE MENGLAN 

Life Sciences Major, Individual Category AY2018/19

Project Title: Changes in Cellular Lipid and Cholesterol Levels Affect Alpha Synuclein Aggregation

I am deeply humbled and honoured to be one of the recipients of the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize. Although the project itself focused on unrevealing basic cellular process, I was enlightened by how such knowledge could contribute to our understanding of etiology of Parkinson’s Disease. This prize not only serves as a recognition of my research work done during my Final Year Project, but also as a motivation to further pursuit my aspiration of becoming a clinician scientist, despites all the odds and obstacles lying ahead.

Reflecting on my research experience during NUS, I am grateful for the numerous opportunities that Faculty of Science had offered to me. For example, Special Programme in Science (SPS) gave me early exposure to scientific research and writing, as well as a group of passionate peers and mentor interested in interdisciplinary science. Moreover, my experiences in Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Science (UROPS), Student Exchange Programme (SEP) where I did a semester long research attachment in Duke University, as well as the FoS supported for our participation in in international Genetically Engineered Machine competition, had all equipped me with necessary skills and mindset, and nurtured my ability to be a better researcher.

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Asst. Prof Liou Yih-Cherng, for giving me the freedom and support as an undergraduate student to design and conduct this new project in the lab. One of the valuable lessons I learnt from the experience in Liou’s lab is not be afraid of challenging popular view if our own experimental results are reproducible. I would also like to thank Dr. Lee Yew Mun, who has been my mentor since my first research project in NUS, for his continuous guidance and encouragement, especially when I encountered failures and challenges.