Vision & Mission
Chairman's Message
Board of Trustees
President Report
Highlights of the Year
Eminent Visitors
NTU 21st Century Fund
Statistics
Financial Statement
Contact Us
 
 
Exploring New Frontiers
Research Strategies and Plans
The University has moved decisively to seek a significant share of the substantial new funding available from the National Research Foundation. A central theme in the last academic year was interdisciplinary research. This is in strategic alignment with the emphasis placed by the Foundation on cross-disciplinary collaboration and also in recognition of the immense potential at the boundaries of disciplines. Our faculty have submitted a wide range of research proposals in response to the Competitive Research Programme Scheme under the Foundation, reflecting the span of research strengths and interests across the University.

To sustain the enhanced research intensity, the University has been developing rapidly the faculty talent pool. The Nanyang Assistant Professorship scheme is the latest initiative, under which top researchers and scholars will be recruited from around the world to play leading roles in the University’s new wave of multi-disciplinary and integrative research. Career progression path of research staff has also been enhanced. Outstanding research staff will move on to higher research appointments and be considered for faculty appointments.

Graduate education forms an integral part of the research eco-system. The University is making plans for new initiatives in graduate education, especially in the PhD programmes. Thematic, inter-disciplinary graduate schools will be established with faculty drawn from across all four Colleges. The enrolment of PhD students has seen considerable growth. In AY06, there were 1,731 PhD students out of a total research student population of 2,060.
 
 
Research Outcomes
The research enterprise at NTU is humming with activity. The investments made in research have spawned research centres, industry and international collaboration, inventions and breakthroughs. Some examples are:

Institutes / Centres
In December 2006, with government matching, NTU received $10 million from the Lien Foundation to launch the Lien Chinese Enterprise Research Centre (Lien CERC). The centre spearheads research on Chinese enterprise and promotes a better understanding of Chinese enterprise behaviour and strategy. It aims to establish NTU as a key centre for Chinese enterprise research in Singapore.
   
In March 2007, the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI) was established as a research, education and innovation centre in environmental and water technologies to provide opportunities for Singapore’s researchers to work together with top international experts to conduct cutting-edge research. The first of NEWRI’s research centres, the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC), led by Professor Tony Fane, will see an investment of $27 million over 5 years and focus on an important aspect of water technology - the membrane.
   
Collaborations
Advanced RFIC Pte Ltd will be investing $9 million in a new collaboration with NTU, to advance research and development in radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) technology. The investment will be pumped into a new laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment and into the creation of 30 postgraduate scholarships.
   
The NTU Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Cluster have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute, to collaborate in nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanosystems. NTU and UCLA will conduct joint research with the possibility of future product commercialisation and industrial start-ups.
   
The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Land Authority to conduct cooperative research in geospatial information science and technology.
   
The S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, together with the School of Computer Engineering and London-based World-Check, has launched a four-year fellowship to facilitate the flow of information related to crime and terror to identify likely criminals and terrorists.
   
NTU and the Confederation of Indian Industry, India’s largest and most established business body, have forged a partnership to collaborate actively in education, research and technology transfer. The Nanyang Business School will also customise executive programmes for Corporate India under the aegis of this partnership.
   
Development of Systems and Prototypes
Working with the National University Hospital (NUH), a research team from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is developing a master-slave surgical robotic system for endoscopy. The robotic system enables the endoscopist to perform technically demanding therapeutic procedures in a minimally invasive or non-invasive setting.
   
Researchers at the School of Computer Engineering are working on a computer system that will allow doctors to accurately diagnose cancer through images, without having to collect tissue samples. This study, conducted with the National Cancer Centre Singapore and a number of local hospitals, has a system that can rapidly combine images taken by an endomicroscope into three-dimensional diagrams that doctors can decipher easily.
 
 
Inventions / Breakthroughs
Researchers at the Lien Institute for the Environment (LIFE) have come up with a simple technique to strengthen brick walls against abrupt collapse during an earthquake. Using this technique, the Institute is already working with two aid groups in Indonesia to reinforce homes and schools.
   
In collaboration with the Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Engineering Cluster, a research team from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has developed a nanophotonic technology which can potentially increase data transmission speeds by up to 1,000 times. This will possibly revolutionise the design of devices in the industry of information communications technology.
   
A research team from the School of Biological Sciences has developed a novel strategy for the containment of acute and emerging infectious diseases. The Digital Ring Fence (DRiF) strategy involves the development of a mathematical structure with data from probable cases captured in a secure database. This will facilitate the quick isolating and monitoring of individuals to prevent the spread of disease.
   
A multi-disciplinary research team comprising faculty from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and School of Computer Engineering has developed software that shows images of human brain activity in 3D and realistic colour. The software translates and processes data from the standard test that measures brain activity within minutes. Research on the human brain is essential as neurological disorders ranging from epilepsy to Alzheimer’s disease affect up to one billion people globally.
   
A research team from NTU’s Intelligent Systems Centre (IntelliSys) has won the Microsoft Sensor Map research grant to develop a map using Microsoft Virtual Earth software with data from a central depository to connect school weather stations together that would to make it simpler and more intuitive for users to use the weather data. This is truly an outstanding achievement, since IntelliSys is the only local research centre among the 11 global winners. The map can potentially be used to study dengue hot spots and the urban heat island effect.
   
Two alumni from the Class of 2001 have found a way to convert industrial refuse to useful construction material by means of a novel crystallization technology. This innovative technology turns industrial waste into environmentally-friendly material that can be re-used in many industries. They have formed a company, NewEarth Pte Ltd. The company won the inaugural Outstanding Maritime R & D and Technology Award.
   
Commercialisations
NTU’s spin-off, NanoFrontier Pte Ltd, has signed two R & D agreements worth $4 million with UK companies, Analytical NanoTechnologies PLC and ROAR Particles Pte Ltd.
   
Researchers from the School of Materials Science and Engineering and a US-based medical device incubator, Insightra ® Medical, have teamed up to form a new start-up company called ReeTrakt™ Pte Ltd, which develops disposable surgical retraction systems.