National University of Singapore (NUS)
新加坡国立大学

Singapore

Founded in 1905, the National University of Singapore (NUS) offers a global approach to education, research, and entrepreneurship. NUS has 17 faculties and schools across three campuses. Close to 40,000 students from 100 countries enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives.

Research: Shaping the Future

NUS takes a holistic approach to research by integrating expertise across the natural and social sciences. Together, we answer the most challenging questions on how to live and work better.

On an island city-state vulnerable to rising sea levels, NUS researchers are driven to find Sustainability and Urban Solutions. Our research informs global policy on coastal defense, urban design, nature-based solutions, food-energy-water nexus, and the development of green energy technologies. In the Anthropocene, our behavioural and decision scientists work to understand and influence the impact of human consumption within cities.

NUS is also dedicated to Materials Research, where materials scientists, chemists, physicists, and engineers work together to unravel the secrets of the physical world and create materials for tomorrow’s technologies. Our researchers harness the principles which govern living matter to develop new functional intelligent materials for applications in everything from artificial neural networks to smart membranes.

We sometimes do the impossible. NUS researchers synthesised the world’s first one-atom-thick amorphous material. The discovery could finally settle a decades-old debate of exactly how atoms are arranged in amorphous solids and accelerate the development of data storage and energy devices.

Our researchers are also enabling people to live longer, higher-quality lives, with revolutions in Healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Duke-NUS researchers developed the first and only authorised SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody test product known as cPass™ SARS-CoV-2 Neutralisation Antibody Test, and the vaccine developed by Duke-NUS in partnership with Arcturus Therapeutics is undergoing human clinical trials globally.

NUS is at the forefront of cancer research, with breaking work in transforming the treatment of leukaemia. The cell-based therapy uses the body’s immune cells that have been altered in the lab to target and kill cancer cells. Our researchers have also developed the world’s first blood test that measures the effectiveness of cancer treatment within 24 hours after treatment initiation.

The interface between material and health sciences led to the creation of electronic skins that enable better prosthetic devices to mimic the human sense of touch, sense nearby objects without touching, and repair itself when damaged.

Underpinning our research is our respect and recognition for the rising role of technology. Within the NUS Smart Nation research cluster, computer scientists, engineers and social scientists collaborate to build resilience in the systems we rely on daily, by tackling issues of cybersecurity, logistics and operations, risk management, financial systems, and artificial intelligence-based technologies. NUS research on quantum key distribution has led to an increase in the long-term security of communication networks.

Our curiosity infuses the 150-hectare NUS campus, which serves as a living lab for the development and test-bedding of smart technologies, such as 5G network-empowered innovation in virtual reality, and district heating and cooling networks for energy-efficient cities. Our research places artificial intelligence and high technology at the service of society’s greatest needs and strives to make life ever more extraordinary.

1 May 2020 - 1 April 2021

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for National University of Singapore (NUS) published between 1 May 2020 - 1 April 2021 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

Count	Share
875	301.12

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Physical Sciences	372	142.17
Life Sciences	271	62.83
Chemistry	345	133.99
Earth & Environmental Sciences	58	18.91

Highlight of the month

Tracking cancer treatment from the get go

© TEK IMAGE/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

A simple blood test can reveal within 24 hours of starting a targeted cancer therapy whether it is having its desired effect or not.

Cancer therapies have come a long way. Conventional chemotherapies assail all rapidly growing cells in the body, giving rise to a wide range of side effects. In contrast, targeted cancer therapies attack specific molecules.

But monitoring whether these targeted therapies are working usually involves using imaging techniques several weeks after commencing a therapy or performing invasive biopsies.

Now, a nanotechnology platform developed by a team of National University of Singapore researchers can rapidly assess the progress of targeted cancer therapies from just a small blood sample taken from a patient.

The method involves analysing the contents of globules in the blood called extracellular vesicles. If they contain high levels of the drug, it indicates the therapy is being effective.

The researchers hope to make the technology commercially available within three years.

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