NUS has launched a new Presidential Young Professorship scheme that is designed in view of the international landscape, to ensure that the University remains competitive in global talent recruitment. NUS will also be launching a new Singaporean-only scheme early next year that is tailored to the development and mentorship of future Singaporean academics.

Visiting Prof Vinod Thomas of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS opined that while Singapore and other smaller countries are not able to affect significantly the carbon emissions that are causing global warming, the experience and voice of small nations in world forums, can nonetheless help influence global directions to slow climate change.

Asst Prof Adelle Yang from the Dept of Marketing at NUS Business School discussed the results of a study conducted with peers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Shanghai Jiaotong University on why people pursue activity and seek to be busy.

A book titled Seeking a Better Urban Future, by Dr Cheong Koon Hean, Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board, who is an NUS Trustee as  well as the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore, was launched on 6 December 2018. The book outlines the challenges faced in Singapore’s rapid urbanisation, and the considerations in planning for Singapore’s urban future.

Professor Seeram Ramakrishnan, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, co-director of NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative, and Head of the Centre for Nanotfibers and Nanotechnology, opined how the mind is important in promoting innovation, and how innovative mindsets can be inculcated while leveraging people’s innate biological assets. 

A team of researchers led by Dr Kristen Coleman, Research Fellow at the Emerging Infectious Diseases programme at Duke-NUS Medical School conducted a first-of-its-kind research to study infectious respiratory diseases on board MRT trains. The researchers have successfully detected common airborne viruses on board MRT trains by carrying backpacks with sampling devices attached to air pumps. The method can potentially detect viruses in a population much faster than screening patients.

Dr G Owen Schaefer, Research Assistant Professor from the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine opined that the Chinese scientist He Jiankui's unethical experiment that involved the modification of human embryos highlights a disturbing pattern in human reproduction.

Dr Michelle Miller, Prof David Taylor and Dr Rini Astuti from ARI discussed the conflicts arising from the absence of a holistic approach to the management of peatland hydrology in Riau. 

NUS Business School students Goh Chu Ning, Hayden Ng Yeuk Hang, Lim Jin Yin and Tham Kai En wrote about how Mr Koh Hock Seng, the founder and managing director of Exceltec, has transformed the business from a small subsidiary of the International Merchandising Mart (IMM) Mall, into an established integrated property and facilities management company in Singapore today.

Prof Zheng Yongnian, Director of the East Asian Institute at NUS discussed the state of China’s institutional reforms and the future directions they could take.