The initiative supports research addressing challenges in climate, health and foundational science. Recipients also have the option to participate in a six-month Google.org Accelerator, which provides engineering support, technical mentorship and access to Google infrastructure to help transform their ideas into scaled solutions.

Asst Prof Liu and his team will use AI to map how genetic variations influence RNA splicing across populations, with the aim of predicting their effects on disease. RNA splicing is a process in which sections of an RNA molecule are removed, while the remaining sections are joined together. Understanding how genetic differences affect this process could help clarify their role in disease.

“We are at an inflection point where AI is changing the way science is done. We are incredibly excited to partner with Google to accelerate our AI-enabled genomics research,” said Asst Prof Liu.

Marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Sweden, the collaborations come at a strategically significant moment amid a changing global order. The agreements were signed by Dean of LKYSPP Professor Joseph Liow and the respective Presidents of the two institutions, during the President of the Republic of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s State Visit to Sweden. 

Speaking at SSE during the State Visit, President Tharman highlighted the importance of countries such as Singapore and Sweden serving as bridge-builders, bringing regions together and advancing international cooperation amid growing geopolitical divisions. 
 

Prof Liow added: “The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy has long believed that public policy education is enriched when it draws on a diversity of governance traditions and experiences. Singapore and Sweden are different in many respects, but both are open economies that have had to navigate a world shaped by larger powers, while maintaining our own agency and a strong commitment to international cooperation.”

Shared ambitions, complementary strengths

While NUS has maintained active student exchange programmes with SSE and KTH, the two agreements bring together LKYSPP’s expertise in public policy and governance across Asia with the distinct strengths of each Swedish institution.

The collaboration with SSE leverages a shared commitment to rigorous, applied scholarship in economics, finance and business. To address shared policy challenges, the two schools will explore closer cooperation across areas of mutual interest, including a recurring forum convening academic experts, public officials, industry leaders and civil society representatives from ASEAN and the Nordics.

On the other hand, the agreement with KTH reflects the growing need to equip officials with an understanding of how technology, innovation and industrial strategy intersect with public policy. The two institutions are developing a one-week overseas study visit to Stockholm as part of LKYSPP’s Senior Management Programme and exploring capability development programmes for public sector leaders.

A strategic collaboration

The new agreements build on years of bilateral engagements on both the state and institutional levels across trade, investment, transport, health, education and aviation, broadening them to include public policy and executive education.

Prof Liow noted: “There is much we can learn from each other, and we look forward to building lasting academic partnerships with SSE and KTH that benefit our students, our faculty and the broader public policy community.”

The value of academic partnership extends well beyond the campus. For Singapore, access to international expertise in frontier fields such as quantum technology, clean energy and healthcare can help inform policy development and strengthen innovation ecosystems. In clean energy, for example, the partnership could support efforts to realise the ASEAN power grid, bringing the potential benefits to Southeast Asia.

“That’s where I see the particular strategic angle of this partnership,” said LKYSPP Vice Dean (Executive Education) and Associate Professor in Practice Francesco Mancini.

“Not just economic ties on a year-to-year basis, but also something more of a long-term objective, especially in frontier technologies.”

Led by Professor Zhao Dan, Associate Professor Sibudjing Kawi and Associate Professor Zhang Sui from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NUS’ College of Design and Engineering, the projects are among five awarded a total of S$65 million by the Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO). The grant provides follow-on support for projects that achieved promising outcomes under an earlier LCER programme.

The projects were announced at the inaugural Singapore Industry Decarbonisation Forum (SIDF) on 23 October 2026. Organised by the Singapore Economic Development Board and AEDO, the forum was graced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Trade), Mr Gan Kim Yong, as Guest-of-Honour.

The three funded projects address complementary research challenges: capturing carbon dioxide using porous materials, producing hydrogen from methane, and developing membranes to separate carbon dioxide from gas mixtures. Their next phase will assess performance at larger scales, integration with industrial infrastructure and durability under operating conditions.

Advancing carbon capture and utilisation at scale

Prof Zhao’s project uses metal-organic frameworks and other advanced porous materials to capture carbon dioxide from flue gas, the exhaust gas released by industrial processes. It also explores how the captured carbon dioxide can be used in concrete applications.

In its earlier phase, the team demonstrated the technology using real flue gas at the Waste-to-Energy Research Facility. The system captured around 400 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide a day and achieved close to 100 per cent carbon dioxide recovery.

Under the scale-up grant, the researchers will develop a system designed to capture five tonnes of carbon dioxide a day from higher-concentration flue gas. A separate pilot at YTL PowerSeraya’s natural gas combined-cycle power plant will target the capture of two tonnes of carbon dioxide a day.

The project will also explore carbon dioxide mineralisation for concrete applications. This process converts captured carbon dioxide into minerals, providing a potential pathway for using the recovered gas.

Separately, the team is collaborating with Chevron to evaluate advanced capture materials and processes for industrial use. Chevron will contribute industrial specifications and evaluation criteria, together with advice on scale-up feasibility and integration into industrial processes.

Producing hydrogen at pilot scale

Assoc Prof Kawi’s project focuses on methane pyrolysis, a process that breaks methane down into hydrogen and solid carbon.

In Phase 1, the team designed and built a catalytic membrane reactor that operates at relatively low temperatures of around 500 to 600 degrees Celsius. The integrated system demonstrated hydrogen production of 500 litres per day, while a prototype was designed to produce up to one kilogramme of hydrogen and three kilogrammes of carbon nanotubes daily.

In Phase 2, the team aims to increase daily production to 100 kilogrammes of hydrogen and 300 kilogrammes of carbon nanotubes through a pilot-scale reactor system.

Working with Siemens and PacificLight Power, the researchers aim to demonstrate the larger system at PacificLight Power’s existing gas-fired power plant. The pilot will draw on the plant’s natural gas infrastructure, with potential applications for the hydrogen in electricity generation.

This next phase will test the technology at pilot scale under industrial conditions.

Testing membranes for carbon capture

Assoc Prof Zhang’s project uses hollow fibre membranes to separate carbon dioxide from gas mixtures. These membranes allow carbon dioxide to pass through more readily than nitrogen, enabling the gases to be separated.

In the earlier phase, the team developed next-generation membranes that achieved performance levels considered attractive for industrial deployment. and the membranes were incorporated into one-inch and four-inch modules, with the smaller modules tested at a waste-to-energy facility, capturing around four kilogrammes of carbon dioxide a day.

With the scale-up funding, the researchers aim to demonstrate a modular pilot system capable of processing up to 1 ton of flue gas per day. The team will also evaluate the membranes’ durability and performance when exposed to contaminants under real-world operating conditions.

The trials will help establish how well the membranes maintain their performance beyond controlled laboratory conditions, supporting their further development for industrial carbon capture.

Across the three projects, these larger-scale trials will help the researchers assess how their technologies perform under industrial conditions, informing the next steps towards wider deployment.

• The Business Times, 26 October 2026, p15

• The Business Times, 26 October 2026, p15

• Lianhe Zaobao, 26 October 2026, Forum, p11

• The Straits Times, 26 October 2026, Opinion, pB2

• The Straits Times, 26 October 2026, Opinion pB3

• Berita Minggu, 25 October 2026, p14 and p15

Officially opened on 22 October 2026, the YST Cube is a 254sqm flexible arts space where students and faculty can explore different ways of creating, performing and experiencing music — part of YST's broader efforts to keep up with changing approaches to music education and artistic practice.

“The YST Cube will create new and exciting possibilities for students and faculty to experiment and push the boundaries of artistic practice,” said NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye at the launch of the Cube during the opening ceremony of Performers(’) Present, YST's triennial international artistic research symposium.

“It will also be a convening space for visiting artists, educators and researchers from around the world to converge, create and showcase.”

Akin to black box performance spaces, the Cube can be reconfigured for different performance formats, including arrangements where audiences surround performers. Its integrated lighting, projection and acoustic systems also support multimedia performances and other artistic activities.

More room to create

For third-year Composition student Joel Tan, the Cube offers possibilities for exploring different ways of presenting music.

“Having the Cube would mean that the school has the capabilities to host much more ambitious projects and performances,” he said.

He is particularly interested in its lighting and projection capabilities, having had limited opportunities to explore these elements previously at YST.

Joel's interest in how audiences experience music is also reflected in a piece he is developing, which explores the individual components of sound, and how different parts of sound can come together as a whole. Using three speakers placed in separate rooms connected by a hallway, the piece allows listeners to experience the different sounds individually and how they merge, depending on how they move through the space.

For fourth-year student Chan Chen, who is pursuing Music, Collaboration and Production with a Second Major in Audio Arts & Sciences, the Cube has the potential to bridge the gap between developing artistic ideas and bringing them to life, while allowing him to further hone his technical skills.

Having previously experimented with audio-reactive visuals and soundscape installations in his first two years at YST, he is now developing an immersive multimedia concert experience that integrates live chamber music with real-time audio-reactive visuals for his final-year project.

Finding a suitable venue with the necessary technical infrastructure has been a challenge, particularly when multiple projectors are involved.

“The new YST Cube potentially addresses many of these challenges through its integrated projection capabilities and flexible performance configurations. It presents an exciting opportunity to explore ideas that might otherwise be difficult to realise within a traditional concert setting,” he shared.

Amplifying the arts

The Cube's opening coincided with the Performers(’) Present symposium, taking place from 22 to 25 October 2026. The symposium will occupy the main venue and its adjoining pre-function area, which can also function independently as a smaller event space.

Beyond music education, the Cube will broaden the range of artistic experiences available to students across different disciplines, in line with the university’s Arts for All framework.

It will also welcome arts organisations and external hirers for performances, rehearsals, creative residencies and collaborative projects, fostering artistic exchange and partnerships between YST and the local arts sector.

“The arts is a deeply fascinating and enriching discipline, and we want every student, whatever their discipline may be, to discover and learn about the arts,” said Prof Tan.

“They stretch our imagination, give us new lenses to see the world and deepen our understanding of the human experience.”

• The Straits Time, 22 October 2026, Opinion, pB4

• The Business Times, 22 October 2026, p19

• The Straits Times, 22 October 2026, Opinion, pB1-B2

The sleeve displays images and video, responds to finger presses and connects wirelessly to other devices, yet stays as washable, breathable and flexible as ordinary clothing. The team’s invention enables the creation of garments that act as a direct interface to a wearer’s health data and their digital devices, with no rigid screen involved.

The screens that we are familiar with, such as those on phones and laptops, typically present graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on flat, rigid panels that display information and enable interaction. Textiles, woven from one-dimensional fibres, have never matched this capability. A full-colour, touch-sensitive display that can be threaded like yarn was, until now, out of reach.

“What made this possible was our ability to construct the GUI system from electronic building blocks in fibre form — similar to traditional yarn, but with the sophisticated electronic functionality built directly into the fibres,” said Asst Prof Khudiyev.

The team, led by Assistant Professor Tural Khudiyev from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at CDE, published their findings in Nature on 21 October 2026.

Interconnecting thousands of chips along a thread

To build a fibre-enabled garment display, the NUS team developed a programmable method that creates connection points along tiny, insulated wires exactly where each microchip needs them. A laser exposes these locations, while controlled surface wetting guides molten solder to bond only at the programmed points. This enabled the team to integrate more than 5,000 chips through over 20,000 electrical connections.

The strip of interconnected digital LEDs was then integrated into a multilayer fibre using a thermal drawing approach, which allows precise formation of the touch-sensitive and pixel layers within a thread just a millimetre thick and 10 metres long. A layer beneath the LEDs senses touch — pressing the fibre completes a circuit, and the signal reveals exactly where your finger landed so the nearest pixel lights up.

“A fibre has a one-dimensional, axially symmetric geometry, which makes it difficult to build complex circuitry using approaches developed for conventional two-dimensional electronics,” added Asst Prof Khudiyev. “We overcame this limitation through a new interconnection architecture, which enables thousands of microelectronic devices to be integrated and interconnected along a fibre.”

Beyond the touchscreen: Wear your apps on your sleeve

In the team’s prototype, 54 pixel fibres, each carrying 96 LEDs, were threaded into the forearm of a sleeve to form a 96 by 54-pixel display measuring 168 mm by 105 mm, refreshing 30 frames per second with 8-bit colour depth. Each fibre has its own control channel, so a fault in one line leaves its neighbours working normally, and the system can register several touches at once. Alongside the pixel fibres, the team integrated peripheral fibres made the same way, carrying a microphone, a speaker and sensors that track movement, find magnetic north, measure temperature and gauge how bright the surroundings are.

Together, the fibres support the functions early generations of smartphones could perform: run a calculator, show a photo gallery, play a video at 30 frames per second (25 frames per second with synchronised audio), work as a compass, respond to voice commands, and receive images over Bluetooth. They can even rotate the screen and adjust brightness automatically. When positioned under the arm, the temperature-sensing fibre lets the sleeve read and display body temperature.

Importantly, the garment still behaves like fabric. Light output and touch response were nearly unchanged after 50 detergent washes in a typical washing machine, and after 1,000 bends around a 5 mm radius. In addition, the built display is as breathable as cotton, polyester and denim, and stays within established safety limits for skin contact.

Clothing as an interface

Smaller microchips and thinner fibres, both compatible with the team’s method, offer a route to sharper and larger displays. Furthermore, as the display and sensing elements sit along the length of the fibre, the thinner fibres can be knitted, weaved and embroidered using standard industrial machines. The same technology could one day perform other functions such as tracking health signs and delivering touch-based feedback.

“Healthcare is one particularly promising application,” said Asst Prof Khudiyev. “A garment could continuously collect physiological information through fibre-based sensors and allow the wearer to access and interact with that information directly through their clothing. Combined with artificial intelligence (AI), this could enable personalised health monitoring, feedback and assistance. Just as smartphones enabled applications that were difficult to imagine when they first appeared, garment GUIs could ultimately enable entirely new applications that do not yet exist.”

What’s next

The research team’s next step is to push the textile touchscreen further—towards higher resolution, integrated sensing and on-device AI, bringing display, touch, sensing and intelligence together within the same textile platform. This convergence could take the technology far beyond a wearable screen, towards clothing that understands both the wearer and their surroundings, providing information or interaction when and where needed.

The researchers are now developing a new interface between people and digital intelligence—one that extends beyond a device users carry to become a natural part of what they wear.

• The Straits Times, 21 October 2026, Opinion, pB4

• Lianhe Zaobao, 21 October 2026, Opinion, p11

• The Business Times, 21 October 2026, p14