Although it is a young university in its 30s, NTU stands shoulder to shoulder with institutions backed by centuries of history. It recently reached the top 30 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, making it the youngest university among this distinguished group. It also placed 15th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings and took the 27th spot in US News & World Report’s global university rankings. President Tharman with his wife, Ms Jane Ottogi (in green), had an inside look at NTU’s Residential Education programme and met student leaders behind various initiatives.
In his first visit to NTU since his appointment as Singapore’s head of state and Chancellor of NTU, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam had a taste of the University’s Residential Education programme and campus life, and learnt about student-led projects. He marked his maiden visit in April 2024 by planting a tree on campus in support of Singapore’s OneMillionTrees movement and as a symbol of NTU’s commitment to fostering a green campus. In May, Chancellor Tharman was on campus to look at NTU’s 14th satellite, the University’s most complex and largest to date, which will be used as a testbed for advanced satellite technologies.Inspired by a 1960s sci-fi film about a submarine crew shrunk to enter a scientist’s body to repair his brain, NTU researchers have created rice-sized robots designed to heal patients. These agile, tiny robots can carry multiple drugs and release them in precise doses and sequences, targeting exactly where they’re needed in the body. The team is now working to make these robots even smaller, aiming to deliver groundbreaking treatments for conditions like brain tumours, bladder cancer, and colorectal cancer.
NTU is not only training empathetic doctors, but instilling in them the knowledge needed to help Singapore’s ageing population. A collaboration with the Agency for Integrated Care will enable medical students to learn how local communities can support patients, particularly senior citizens, and what resources, services, and national schemes can be leveraged to enhance their health and well-being. A new scholarship will soon support Indonesian students taking up full-time master’s degrees in NTU. Created to attract the best and brightest young minds from Indonesia, the Indonesia – NTU Singapore Talent Programme aims to foster better ties between Singapore and Indonesia by producing bicultural graduates who can work in areas of mutual benefit to both countries. The scholarship is jointly funded by NTU and the Indonesian government and will support up to 200 students a year.
Source: NTU Alumni news.
