NUS President in Davos

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye joined various university leaders, policymakers and industry leaders in a discussion on university-industry collaboration at the Times Higher Education (THE) Davos Innovation Forum held in Davos, Switzerland on 24 January, during which a THE/Elsevier report highlighting the economic impact of a handful of global universities was launched.

The report found that 27 leading universities of the World Economy Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) group — of which NUS is a member — published more than seven per cent of the world’s research output. Collectively, their research output eclipsed that of major nations including the UK, Germany and Japan, demonstrating the huge contribution that universities make to the global economy. NUS is the only Singapore university in the GULF group.

The GULF universities attracted more than US$3 billion from industry and other commercial bodies each year, and they are responsible for 15.4 per cent of all research cited in worldwide patents, second only to the US.

Mr Phil Baty, THE Editorial Director, Global Rankings, moderated a panel session that followed the unveiling of the findings. Prof Tan spoke about what the West can learn from the East on industry collaboration, in particular the role governments could play in fostering research and collaboration between industry and universities.

Prof Tan spoke alongside Mr Youngsuk Chi, Chairman of Elsevier; Professor Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University; Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London and Chair of the GULF group; and Professor Lino Guzzella, President of ETH Zurich.