New partnerships with French institutions
NUS has inked partnerships with four French institutions, namely Paris Descartes University, IFP School, PickCell, and the International Public Policy Association, to further its international collaboration in education and research. This follows a long-standing tradition of cooperation and warm relations between Singapore and France.
NUS and its partners signed four Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on 27 March at the inaugural Singapore-France Innovation Forum organised by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the French Embassy, held at Biopolis. The collaborations were part of 10 MOUs signed at the Forum. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State, Singapore Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Ministry of Trade and Industry; and Mr Christophe Sirugue, French Minister of State for Industry, Digital Economy and Innovation. French President Mr François Hollande, who was in Singapore as part of a two-day state visit, also graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour.
NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine will collaborate with Paris Descartes Medical School in key areas of mutual interest, including student and staff exchange programmes, research and teaching initiatives and knowledge sharing through research programmes, as well as participation in international conferences, workshops and joint seminars.
NUS Engineering is linking up with IFP School, the education division of French public sector research, innovation and training centre IFP Energies nouvelles, to jointly strengthen and develop skills and talents for the energy sector, particularly in oil and gas. This partnership draws upon the two institutions’ complementary strengths — NUS Engineering in offshore technology with its Petroleum Engineering Professorship Programme, and the IFP School with its strong industry ties and its upstream petroleum engineering programmes. Both institutions will explore collaborations in the energy sector, such as the development of a joint Master’s programme with a strong applied and industrial focus.
The research agreement between Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) at NUS and PickCell, a Singapore-based company with a combination of Singapore and French capital, is aimed at converting laboratory-scale devices developed from research done at the MBI lab led by Associate Professor Virgile Viasnoff into commercial products, customising them for next-generation cancer diagnostics and organoid cultures, as well as advanced cellular imaging.
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS also reaffirmed its earlier agreement with the International Public Policy Association, a Paris-based non-profit organisation, to co-organise the 3rd International Conference on Public Policy, which will take place in June 2017 in NUS.
