162 Scholarships Given Out Since 2015 to Nurture Singapore Academic Talent
1. At the 7th Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (START) Award Ceremony held virtually on 27 September, the Ministry of Education and the Autonomous Universities (AUs) gave out 25 awards to Singaporeans keen on pursuing academic careers at the AUs.
2.. START provides a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and awards at local and overseas institutions and helps the AUs strengthen their pool of academic talent in both research and teaching. Details of the various START schemes and the list of award recipients are in the Annex.
3. Since the establishment of START in 2015, the scheme has supported 137 scholars from 30 disciplines, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines such as Engineering, Medicine and Dentistry, and Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines such as History, Geography, Law, Economics and Sociology. The 25 awardees this year broadens this list and will also be pursuing studies in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Ethics and Labour Economics.
4. At the ceremony, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education reiterated the importance of strengthening the pipeline of Singaporean academic and leadership talent at the AUs: "For the AUs to be successful and world-class, we need to build a strong talent community with complementary skillsets in research, teaching and leadership. Our academics in the AUs will play a significant role in these areas to address our challenges in our economy and society."
5. The award recipients also engaged in a dialogue with Minister Chan and University leaders on a wide range of topics including interdisciplinary research and teaching, the future of the academic landscape in Singapore and the benefits of global collaborations with other academics. Minister Chan encouraged the awardees to strike a good balance between being a generalist and specialist, develop healthy interests in their research areas, and be versatile in different skillsets to enrich Singapore's research ecosystem.