SINGAPORE – Eight leaders and innovators have acquired the President’s Science and Technology Awards for their distinctive contributions to Singapore’s science and know-how ecosystem.
The awards, administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF), got out at a ceremony on Oct 3 on the University Cultural Centre within the National University of Singapore.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam offered the President’s Science and Technology Medal – which is the highest honour – to NUS president Tan Eng Chye for his visionary management and lifelong dedication to driving science and know-how analysis at NUS and in Singapore.
NRF mentioned in an announcement that Professor Tan has devoted his total profession to driving science and know-how analysis. He formed a deeply collaborative tradition inside NUS, and performed a essential position in putting Singapore’s science and know-how capabilities and achievements firmly on the world map.
Ahead of the ceremony, Prof Tan instructed the media: “What to me was particularly memorable was (the setting up of) the Centre for Quantum Technologies in 2007. It was the first research centre for blue-sky research in quantum computing.”
The centre is now one of many high analysis centres for quantum computing on the planet, he mentioned.
“I often say that the university is a talent organisation, so we basically have the best minds, and we groom them to contribute towards the nation and the world.”
The two recipients of the President’s Science Award in 2025 are Professor Lisa Ng, govt director of the A*Star Infectious Diseases Labs, and NUS Professor Lim Chwee Teck, director of the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology.
Prof Ng’s analysis on mosquito-borne viruses, particularly chikungunya, has revealed how infections set off each useful and dangerous immune responses, and how these could clarify why sufferers get well otherwise.
These novel insights are underpinning enhancements within the improvement of diagnostics, vaccines and remedies, and strengthening outbreak readiness in Singapore and the area, mentioned NRF.
Prof Ng, who can also be the chief director of A*Star’s Biomedical Research Council, mentioned that when she first began out, her focus was solely on conducting analysis and publishing the findings.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she noticed how science made a direct impression on individuals’s lives.
“So that changed my mindset, that it is not just about publishing papers. You can be doing very sexy science, but (if) the application is very limited… people are not going to benefit from what you do,” she mentioned. “So, whatever I do, I want to be able to make a difference, to help the real world.”
In the sphere of most cancers, Prof Lim has reworked the understanding of how cancers unfold and how circulating most cancers cells survive the extraordinary bodily and mechanical stresses they’re uncovered to as they journey by means of the blood circulatory system.
“Our body is remarkably effective at protecting itself, destroying about 99.99 per cent of cancer cells that enter the bloodstream. My research focuses on the rare 0.01 per cent that manage to survive, and I call these ‘mechano-resilient’ cells because they can withstand extreme physical stress,” he mentioned.
“These cells have a unique ability to repair their DNA, strengthen the structure of their nuclei, which is like the ‘control centre’ of the cell, and resist the effects of chemotherapy.”
By learning how these cells survive and unfold, researchers hope to establish their weak factors.
“The goal is to develop therapies that block their self-repair systems and make them more fragile so that metastasis, the spread of cancer, can be stopped before it takes hold,” mentioned Prof Lim. “This could mean patients receive more targeted treatments earlier, improving outcomes and quality of life.”
President’s Science Award recipients Lisa Ng (proper) and Lim Chwee Teck on the President’s Science and Technology Awards Ceremony.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Professor Ng Geok Ing from Nanyang Technological University took residence the President’s Technology Award for serving to to develop Singapore’s capabilities in gallium nitride (GaN), a sophisticated semiconductor know-how that permits smaller, quicker and extra energy-efficient digital units.
Globally, GaN is gaining traction as a semiconductor materials for purposes in communications. Prof Ng’s efforts on this space, together with organising key services and coaching engineering groups, has culminated within the creation of a nationwide platform that positions Singapore amongst world leaders in GaN know-how
Prof Ng is concurrently govt director of the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre for Gallium Nitride, Singapore’s first nationwide facility devoted to GaN semiconductors.
During the ceremony, NRF chairman Heng Swee Keat gave out the Young Scientist Awards to 4 recipients.
They embrace Dr Andy Tay Kah Ping from NUS, who’s advancing regenerative medication with sensible biomaterials that information the immune system to hurry up diabetic wound therapeutic, and Dr Chan Yi Hao from the A*Star Infectious Diseases Labs. Dr Chan’s analysis, which has revealed how the mind defends itself towards extreme viral infections, might result in new approaches for higher analysis and care of viral encephalitis.
Another recipient is Dr Liu Ziwei from NTU, whose work on generative synthetic intelligence (AI) and combined actuality permits practical digital twins to be created and utilized in areas starting from healthcare to training.
Dr Wang Xinchao from NUS, whose work focuses on creating AI fashions which might be extra compact, quicker and much less depending on massive datasets, additionally acquired the Young Scientist Award.
In his speech, Mr Heng mentioned that below the present five-year analysis, innovation and enterprise plan, or RIE2025, Singapore has invested about $28 billion, or about 1 per cent of gross home product, over 5 years till monetary 12 months 2025.
Singapore is residence to greater than 4,500 tech start-ups, and enterprise capital funding in early-stage deep tech offers has greater than tripled from $500 million in 2020 to $1.6 billion in 2023. Mr Heng mentioned these have been constructed on the foundations of cutting-edge primary analysis and expertise in Singapore’s universities, A*Star and different establishments.
In an announcement on Oct 3, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Permanent Secretary for National Research and Development, mentioned: “Talent and cutting-edge (science and technology) are critical for translating research into outcomes that significantly contribute to Singapore’s competitiveness and continued growth.”
The awards not solely rejoice the achievements of analysis leaders who’re breaking new floor in science and know-how and their software, but in addition underscore the worth that Singapore locations on analysis and innovation, he added.