Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have jointly launched a new PhD program focusing on human immunology and immune regulation. Under this novel partnership, NTU's School of Biological Sciences and A*STAR's consortium, Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), will jointly offer a comprehensive, world-class PhD training program to local and international aspiring scientists. Applications are open now for the program which will admit its first intake of students in August 2011.
The research projects under this program could potentially lead to the development of new therapeutics in cancer and vaccines required to combat a variety of inflammatory and infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and dengue. The program will also help to build a critical mass of highly specialized researchers in vital areas such as infection, inflammation and human immunology as well as enhance potential medical discoveries.
The collaboration, the first of its kind for NTU's School of Biological Sciences, will strengthen NTU's reputation as a world-class research university. Postgraduate students under this program will work on research projects supervised by an international panel comprising of top immunology experts from Singapore and abroad. In addition to the core curriculum of the PhD research project, students will also participate in intensive immunology workshops and seminar series organized by SIgN. Such activities will provide the students with greater exposure to further develop their research skills.
The program will admit its first intake of students in August 2011 with the A*STAR Graduate Academy supporting 40 scholarships for the PhD students. The scholarships will come from the A*STAR Graduate Scholarship (AGS) and the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) for local and international students, respectively.
"This joint initiative between NTU's School of Biological Sciences and A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) is a win-win-win – for NTU, for A*STAR and for the PhD students who will benefit from a large team of world-class immunologists and the best in infrastructure and training opportunities," said Professor Mark Featherstone, Interim Dean of NTU's College of Science.
Mr Lim Chuan Poh, Chairman of A*STAR, said, "This collaboration between SIgN and NTU represents one of the ways in which public sector institutes can come together in partnership to train top local and international talent in the sciences. I hope to see more of such partnerships in the future to build up the talent and infrastructure needed to position Singapore as a global R&D hub and Asia's Innovation Capital."
"SIgN has a mission to build up deep strengths in human immunology research for better translation of research findings into clinical applications to address unmet medical needs and improve health care. Part of this mission involves training excellent talent, and we are proud to be a partner in this program to train top-quality PhD students. Working with NTU, we will be able to develop a pipeline of talent in immunology and help to grow this relatively new and promising field of research in Singapore," said Professor Paola Castagnoli, SIgN Scientific Director.
Selection of candidates will be carried out by the program board consisting of NTU professors, SIgN members and senior principal investigators. Each student will undertake a research project under the guidance of a principal investigator from either SIgN or NTU. They will get opportunities to attend annual training workshops and international scientific conferences.
Media contact
Nasrath Hassan (Ms)
Corporate Communications Office
Nanyang Technological University
Tel: 6790 6179; Mobile: 9001 0050
Email: nasrath@ntu.edu.sg
Joshua Tan (Mr)
Corporate Communications
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Tel: (65) 6826 6353
Email: joshua_tan@a-star.edu.sg
About the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN)
The Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), officially inaugurated on 15 January 2008, is a research consortium under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)'s Biomedical Research Council. The mandate of SIgN is to advance human immunology research and participate in international efforts to combat major health problems. Since its launch, SIgN has grown rapidly and currently includes 150 scientists from 25 different countries of the world working under 20 renowned principal investigators. At SIgN, researchers investigate immunity during infections and inflammatory conditions including cancer and are supported by cutting edge technological research platforms and core services. Through this, SIgN aims to build a strong platform in basic human immunology research for better translation of research findings into clinical applications. SIgN also sets out to establish productive links with local and international institutions, and encourage the exchange of ideas and expertise between academic, industrial and clinical partners and thus contribute to a vibrant research environment in Singapore.
For more information about SIgN, please visit www.sign.a-star.edu.sg.
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and seven consortia & centres, which are located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their immediate vicinity.
A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other local and international partners.
For more information about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.
About Nanyang Technological University
One of the fastest-growing research universities in the world, NTU is ranked among the top one percent of the world's universities according to the 2010 QS World University rankings and has been cited as a model for science and technology education. The Yunnan Garden campus, NTU's main campus, is located in the south-western part of Singapore and was the Youth Olympic Village of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in August 2010. The NTU@one-north campus, in Singapore's science and tech hub, is home to educational facilities, including a graduate school, and alumni clubhouse facilities. These campuses house more than 33,000 students and 5,500 faculty and staff from over 70 countries.
NTU has four colleges, namely:
- The Nanyang Business School (the College of Business), the first and only Singapore business school to be ranked in the top 27 of the Financial Times Global MBA 2010 rankings;
- The College of Engineering, with six schools focused on technology and innovation and a research output among the top four in the world;
- The College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, which offers degree programmes in communications, under the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, a top journalism and media school in Asia; as well as art, design and interactive digital media; and humanities and social sciences;
- The College of Science, home to award-winning faculty, world-class laboratories, and Olympiad medal winners.
The S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an autonomous graduate school, is a world authority on strategic studies and security research. NTU has two other autonomous institutes – the internationally-acclaimed National Institute of Education, Singapore's only teacher-training institute, and the S$150m state-funded Earth Observatory of Singapore, a national research centre of excellence dedicated to hazards-related earth science. NTU has been awarded another $120 million to set up a second research centre of excellence – the Singapore Centre on Life Sciences Engineering, which aims to solve critical water and environmental challenges.
As Singapore's main science and technology university, NTU makes key contributions to a national research and innovation drive, particularly in the high-investment areas of biomedical sciences, environmental and water technologies, and interactive and digital media. In 2008, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the world's largest foundations for entrepreneurship, selected NTU as the first Kauffman campus outside of the US.
NTU builds strong linkages across the globe and counts among its academic partners MIT, Stanford University, Cornell University, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon University, and Georgia Institute of Technology in the US; Cambridge University, Imperial College London and Technische Universität München in Europe; and Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Waseda University, and Indian Institute of Technology in Asia.
NTU works with many global industry and research leaders, and has developed joint laboratories with Thales, Rolls-Royce, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Robert Bosch and Toray Industries Inc.
For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg