Visiting Professor Sumit Agarwal from the Dept of Finance at NUS Business School shared about his joint study with the NUS School of Design and Environment and Singapore-ETH Centre. The research found that when the construction near a housing estate was over and there is no more noise pollution, households affected by the construction still used more electricity and were less likely to switch back to natural ventilation, compared to households that were not affected by the construction noise in the first place.

Ms Cheryl Ho, a student with the Division of Industrial Design at NUS School of Design and Environment, created a pair of wall lights that form a grid lattice when overlapped with each other. This was part of 17 items, designed by students from NUS and the Kyoto Design Lab at Kyoto Institute of Technology, showcased at the prestigious Milan Design Week this year.

Asst Prof Ryan Chisholm from the Dept of Biological Sciences at NUS Faculty of Science and Mr Richard Belcher from the Future Cities Laboratory at Singapore-ETH Centre found that on average, $11,200 of the resale prices of 15,962 HDB flats sold from April 2013 to April 2014 could be attributed to green spaces within 1.6 kilometres.

Assoc Prof Jessica Pan from the Dept of Economics at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, who is also a Research Associate at the NUS Centre for Family and Population Research, discussed her study which analysed why more women, especially in East Asia, are not marrying.

An expedition team led by Prof Peter Ng, Head of the NUS Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, and Prof Dwi Listyo Rahayu, Senior Research Scientist at the Research Centre for Oceanography of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, has discovered more than a dozen new species of crustaceans.

Prof Zheng Yongnian, Director of the East Asian Institute at NUS, discussed the concept of ‘"trade-offs" in politics, both in China and the West. He noted that a loss of balance in key elements within a political system will lead to a political imbalance that will create a series of problems.

Dr Cyrus Ho Su Hui from the Department of Psychological Medicine at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine discussed the causes of stroke and how patients could undergo rehabilitation to improve their condition.

Assoc Prof Peter Borschberg from the Dept of History at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences noted that Singapore’s important location in the busy maritime straits was already found in writings and cartographical materials before Stamford Raffles’ arrival.

Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory at NUS recently developed a special type of rice, known as Temasek Rice, which has been bred to be resistant to certain types of bacteria and fungi, as well as withstand adverse weather conditions.

NUS has been appointed to lead a national project to come up with designs that can help nursing homes blend with high-density neighbourhoods, while providing quality care for seniors. The team is led by Assoc Prof Fung John Chye from the NUS School of Design and Environment.