A growing pool of young Singaporeans have chosen to pursue an academic career in the local universities.
This year, 38 students received awards under the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme, which funds their undergraduate and postgraduate studies in top institutions such as Harvard University and Stanford University.
This is the third and largest number of recipients since the scheme – which provides a range of scholarships and support options for undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD holders interested in academia – began in 2015.
There were about 20 award recipients each year in the first two years.
Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, who presented the awards last night at the Singapore Management University School of Law building, said that the local universities have access to top talent from around the world. “But the prerequisite for our universities to be successful and internationally competitive is that we have a strong local core of academics.
“And a large part of the work our universities do must be pertinent to the home base,” he said, adding that producing relevant research is one of the objectives of the autonomous universities.
A pool of local faculty will be able to “understand Singapore’s challenges and problems, and will feel particularly strongly about finding the answers and solutions to them”.
He added: “Their teaching, their research, are driven by this strong and dedicated sense of purpose.”
Scholarship holders are expected to take up an academic position at the local universities and serve out a bond once they complete their postgraduate programme.
Article from Straits Times