The National University of Singapore (NUS) will set up its fourth overseas research institute, the NUS Guangzhou Research Translation and Innovation Institute (NUSGRTII), in China. NUS has committed over S$550 million (or RMB2.63 billion, which includes new funding and existing government grants) to develop R&D talents, incubate and support start-ups and offer education programmes to individuals in Guangzhou and the Greater Bay Area.
The establishment of NUSGRTII follows three other research institutes set up by NUS in China – the NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute, the Tianjin University-NUS Joint Institute in Fuzhou and the NUS (Chongqing) Research Institute.
Expected to be operational by the first half of 2022, NUSGRTII will train over 3,200 Chinese PhD and Master’s students, post-doctoral fellows as well as professionals over 10 years. A variety of highly competitive scholarships will be offered by the Huangpu District Government, Guangzhou City Government and corporate sponsors to support aspiring Chinese students for their studies at NUS in Singapore.
This is a strategic cross-border collaboration where we will draw on the capabilities of all the partners. One of NUS’ areas of focus is building a vibrant research, innovation and enterprise ecosystem that can translate theory into practice. It is exciting to ink this commitment, which will help shape future impactful solutions that will transform both Singapore and Guangzhou.
We can expect to see a two-way flow of talents, technologies and start-ups where participants in China can have access to NUS research, intellectual property and entrepreneurship programmes and courses in Singapore, and at the same time, they can further leverage our market access capabilities to create their ventures in thriving Guangzhou and the Greater Bay Area.
– Professor Freddy Boey, NUS Deputy President (Innovation & Enterprise)
NUSGRTII also leverages the University’s expertise in venture creation by matching nurtured talents with robust research, in turn enabling them to start ventures or participate in the growth of tech ventures in Guangzhou. This is a win-win collaboration for all three parties who worked together to set up NUSGRTII, tapping NUS’ research and development capabilities to address unmet Guangzhou industrial and market needs via technological innovations.
Additionally, NUSGRTII aims to promote the innovation and enterprise gateway between Singapore and China by:
- Supporting up to 300 China and Singapore start-ups in the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (CSGKC) over 10 years. These start-ups could be formed by programme returnees or any Singapore start-ups which are interested in scaling up their operations to Guangzhou or across China.
- Offering various education programmes in technology innovation and entrepreneurship, starting with the full-time NUS PhD by Innovation Programme and the NUS Technology Access Programme which will both accept their inaugural cohort in 2022. Other programmes include the Master of Science (MSc) in Venture Creation and post-doctoral training. These programmes will be conducted in Singapore.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of the Built Environment has established a new research centre to augment the digital capability of Singapore’s construction industry, accelerate 5G training and promote the adoption of 5G technologies in Smart Facilities Management (FM).
As Singapore pushes to offer nationwide 5G coverage by 2025, the centre for 5G Digital Building Technology aims to play an important role in Singapore’s digital research. It has set its sights to be a leading centre in digital building technology through high impact research, broad-based education, and implementing best practices. It will harness 5G connectivity, cloud-based digital twin and robotics for Smart FM and Built Environment industry applications and seek to transform the way people design, deliver and manage Singapore’s built environment.
