This presentation on Singapore National University with mission to become a leading global university presented by Dr Prof. Deputy President, Provost Tan Eng Chye

1. Paper by the National University of Singapore
THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE’S
MISSION TO BE A LEADING GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
Prof Tan Eng Chye
Deputy President (Academic Affairs) & Provost
Aug 2011

2. Paper by the National University of Singapore
An Introduction of NUS – Some Facts and Figures
• Large comprehensive university with 15 • Structurally comparable to many publicly
Schools and Faculties or state funded universities
• 26,400 undergraduates and 10,500 • Fairly high student to staff ratios
graduate students • Admits a sizable proportion of our
• 2,300 faculty members; another 2.300 population (12.5%)
researchers
NUS’s Evolvement
1990s
• NUS was under the Ministry • Corporatized in 2006;
of Education’s purview; considerable autonomy and
subject to Civil Service rules • Developed and intensified budgetary prerogative to
and operating procedures research activities pursue its goals
• Primarily a teaching • Training graduates for the • Endeavours to be a global
university, training services and technology university
graduates for the sectors,
manufacturing sector
Pre 1990s 2006 and beyond
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3. Paper by the National University of Singapore
What is NUS’s Global University Endeavour?
 Global vision
• Aspires towards global influence and impact
 Diverse faculty and student body
• A microcosm of a cosmopolitan global
environment and outlook
 Delivers an education that prepares students
for living and working in a globalized world
 Actively involved in research and knowledge
creation
• Thought leaders in various research fields
 Continually innovating models of education,
research and service
• Contribute to international benchmarks and
best practices
 Key nodes in influential global networks
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4. Paper by the National University of Singapore
NUS – The Global University Endeavour
Attracting Talent Excellence in Education Excellence in Research
• Top Faculty • Global Education • Integrative research
• Top Students • Broadbased Curriculum clusters
• Inquiry-based Pedagogy
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5. Paper by the National University of Singapore
(I) Attracting Talents
Quality matters
Top Faculty Top Students
• Recruitment • Differentiated academic pathways to
• KPI for Provosts, Deans and maximize each student’s learning and
Directors potential
• Global reach • University Scholars Programme
• Interdisciplinary academic
• Merit based
programme for 180 talented
• Development and Retention students
• Compensation is performance- • Modelled after Harvard University’s
based, competitive and Core Curriculum Programme
internationally benchmarked • Building a community of engagement
and intellectual stimulation
• P&T assessment is
comprehensive and stringent • Global Engineering Programme
• Accelerated programme for top
• Potential successors for
engineering students
management positions are put
• Students pursue their 4th year
through leadership development
Masters programme at MIT or
programmes Cambridge University
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6. Paper by the National University of Singapore
(II) Excellence in Education
Nurturing the Talents of Tomorrow: Global Education for a Globalized World
Over half of our
undergraduates
will have an
NUS welcomes overseas
education stinct 25% of
1,200 exchange undergraduates
students from will spend 6
foreign months or longer
universities each in exchange
year programmes
A Global
Education 7 NUS Overseas
50% of faculty Colleges to
members are immerse students
international in entrepreneurial
hubs
20% of
undergraduates
and 70% of
graduates are
international
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7. Paper by the National University of Singapore
(II) Excellence in Education
Moving Towards a Broad-based Curriculum
• 25% of courses taken by typical
undergraduates are modules outside the
student’s major
• 67 joint or double degree programmes
• Residential Colleges at University Town
• Loosely modelled after the Oxbridge collegiate model,
and other leading colleges
• Residential living and learning
• Building communities of intellectual inquiry and
discourse
• Yale-NUS College to open in 2013
• Landmark partnership between 2 universities with
distinctive strengths, to create a new model of
undergraduate education for Asia
• YNC will draw on the best elements of liberal arts
education from the West, but will reshape and
contextualize the curriculum and collegiate experience
for Asia
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8. Paper by the National University of Singapore
(II) Excellence in Education
Inquiry-Based Pedagogies
• Redefining how theoretical and basic
science are taught
• Problem-Based Learning at Duke-
NUS Graduate School of Medicine
and the Yong Loo Lin School of
Medicine
• Clinical-based scenarios
• Design Centric-Curriculum at the
Faculty of Engineering
• Courses are built around a hands-on
project
• Students choose projects from 3 broad
themes: Future Transportation Systems,
Engineering in Medicine, or Smart Cities
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9. Paper by the National University of Singapore
(III) Excellence in Research
Integrated Research Clusters
• Supporting research broadly across disciplines, but also, to
develop peaks of excellence
• Established 5 integrative research clusters (IRCs)
• Finance and risk management
• Biomedical science and translational clinical research
• Ageing
• Sustainability solutions
• Asian Studies
• IRCs draw scholars from across disciplines to collaborate
• Leveraging on wide and deep expertise
• Multi-disciplinary analysis
• Comprehensive approach to unravelling research problems
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10. Paper by the National University of Singapore
NUS – The Global University Endeavour
How are we faring?
 Fared well in international rankings
 Fared well under the Singapore’s Quality
Assurance Framework for Universities
 Other Indications:
 Department Visiting Committees
 Reviews by referees for promotions
 Etc.
NUS will continue to develop excellences in education and
research, while fulfilling its role as a state institution to educate a
significant proportion of the national cohort to meet the nation’s
manpower needs.
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11. Thank you