SOUA 2015: Another 110 (%)

People, Culture and Purpose' are the three key pillars for NUS to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world, said Prof Tan

"People, Culture and Purpose must be the focus of attention for NUS if it is to continue being relevant in a rapidly changing world, said NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan at this year's State of the University Address on 27 October.

The first pillar, a strong sense of common purpose, is vital for a diverse and talented community like NUS to continue to excel, he said. It motivates each individual by giving greater meaning and fulfilment to his or her work. "I believe the most important purpose of our University is to create distinctive and compelling value for our students, for Singapore and the wider global community, stressed Prof Tan.

With strong researchers across a wide range of fields, the University also serves as a comprehensive and valuable "brain-trust for Singapore, enabling NUS and Singapore to be more adaptable and responsive to future demands.

For NUS to sustain its rate of progress, the second pillar builds on a culture of excellence, which must be fostered at all levels of the University, he said. This means that every member and group must continuously strive to be even better, to be constantly self-surpassing. At the same time, the University must provide the enabling environment that promotes and supports outstanding performance, with teamwork and collaboration being the norm.

"Being exceptional is increasingly important as we enter an era of what I might term the commoditisation of competencies', he pointed out.

The third but most important pillar is People.

NUS must focus on helping every student discover and develop his or her potential, as well as further raise the quality and impact of faculty and staff by nurturing them to do their best work.To augment teaching and research, the University is recruiting talent who can work well with industry, and bridge basic research and application, and commercialisation.  

Prof Tan highlighting the University's key thrusts and new initiatives

To achieve these goals, NUS will be spearheading two major thrusts.

The first is centred on helping students maximise their potential and realise their aspirations. A stronger focus will be placed to ensure that NUS graduates have a "can do spirit, can connect with others, and are continually learning.

For students to gain the most from experiential learning opportunities, the Centre for Future-ready Graduates (CFG) will launch a novel programme called the "Roots and Wings initiative. Roots stands for personal skills, and is about developing self-understanding and mastery. Wings stands for interpersonal skills, which when coupled with personal mastery, will enable the individual to effectively navigate the wider world and contribute to society.

CFG will be designing a number of new foundational programmes to help students in their journey of self-discovery and equip them with essential life skills for the future. To be piloted from next year, these programmes ' some in partnership with Faculties, Halls, Residential Colleges and study-abroad programmes ' involve systematic self-reflection, sharing and mentorship. A total of $10 million has been allotted over the next three years to increase the number of professional staff and provide start-up funding for these new undertakings. 

In addition, to help students and alumni remain responsive to change throughout their careers, NUS will strengthen Continuing Professional Education through two fresh initiatives with a funding of $20 million.

Firstly, an $8 million Institute for the Application of Learning Science will be set up, with former Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore Dean Professor Ranga Krishnan chairing the Management Advisory Board. It will develop two important new modules in a Blended Learning Online Course format: "How to learn will introduce and entrench learning approaches shown to be effective for continual learning; and "How to choose will concentrate on how to frame and make decisions, especially in complex situations or where there is incomplete information.

NUS Pro-Chancellors and Board of Trustees were among the guests at the event

Secondly, a new $12 million School of Continuing And Lifelong Education (SCALE) will be established over three years. Commencing operations in January 2016, it will first be set up as an academic unit and expanded into a full school. SCALE will offer an industry-aligned curriculum, leveraging on technology with largely online courses. These courses will also be accessible to, and benefit students from around the world, besides Singapore. The School will award degrees as well as Certificates and Diplomas which may be counted towards a full Degree.

The second major thrust is to build two signature initiatives that maximise NUS researchers' impact in areas of great importance to Singapore. Called "NUS Solutioning Networks, these groups will draw on all relevant expertise across campus to work with public and private-sector partners on defined problems.

The first initiative, the NUS Solutioning Network for Health, will be a collaborative effort between NUS and National University Health System, with $6 million joint funding. By working closely with the Ministry of Health to support its overall health innovation framework, new models centred on the patient will be created with partners to provide holistic care, especially for an ageing population. It will also involve community studies to understand the social, health and other factors which influence the choice of healthcare and services selected by patients and their families.

The second NUS Solutioning Network will be in "smart nation research, with key components comprising data science, analytics, optimisation and cybersecurity. With support from the National Research Foundation, NUS is building the National Cybersecurity R&D Laboratory and establishing a Cybersecurity Consortium. It is also setting up a new Data Science Institute to boost its expertise in data analytics and optimisation.

Noting that NUS start-ups and spin-offs had raised more than $120 million in the preceding five years and over $220 million in follow-on funding in nine months (October 2014-July 2015), Prof Tan hopes that the two signature initiatives will further quicken the pace of commercialisation of NUS technologies and bring greater benefits to Singapore and the global community.

Prof Tan interacting with guests after delivering his address

NUS strong progress owes much to the foundation laid by the preceding leadership, Prof Tan said. He paid special tribute to former Vice Chancellor Professor Lim Pin and former President Professor Shih Choon Fong, who have played pivotal roles in the University's rapid growth.

On the significant impact of NUS' research, Prof Tan thanked Professor Barry Halliwell for his immense contributions during his nine years of service as Deputy President of Research. He also expressed his appreciation to Mr Joseph Mullinix, who will be stepping down in December, for his contributions during his 10 years as Deputy President for Administration.

In closing, Prof Tan urged the community to look beyond international rankings which capture only some dimensions of a university's accomplishments. He reiterated that "our focus must be on the distinctive value that we are creating as a world-class university rooted in Singapore.

"As we look back at how far we have come in the past 110 years, I urge you to continue giving us the full force of your talent and passion, to add to our gathering strength, to give another 110 per cent, to help NUS move strongly upward in the years ahead, as a leading global university centred in Asia, influencing the future, creating distinctive value, Prof Tan concluded.

Read the full State of the University Address.