The National University of Singapore (NUS) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem are launching a Joint Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree program in biomedical science beginning in August 2013.
Prof. Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost at National University of Singapore, and Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, President of the Hebrew University, signed the joint degree agreement at NUS, in the presence of Ambassador of Israel to Singapore Her Excellency Amira Arnon and 30 invited guests.
The new joint PhD program is a collaboration between the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Faculty of Science at NUS, with the Hebrew University Faculties of Medicine and Science. Students enrolled in the program will divide their time between both campuses in Singapore and Jerusalem, spending a minimum of nine months at each institution. Two NUS students have already been selected for the inaugural intake and they will begin their program in the new academic year starting this August.
NUS President Prof. Tan Chorh Chuan said, “We are excited to further deepen our ties with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem through this new joint PhD program. The Hebrew University is highly respected internationally for its outstanding scientific research and its application. As the program leverages on the complementary academic strengths of our two institutions, I am confident that it will offer a unique and world-class learning experience for our students and an excellent platform for our faculty to drive for even higher levels of excellence. This partnership also opens up more opportunities for researchers and students from both our universities to break new ground in biomedical science.”
Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said, “We are proud of our relationship with the National University of Singapore, which is one of the leading academic research institutions in Asia, and a model for its huge investment in research, teaching and globalization. Through Singapore’s CREATE program, we already have two student exchange programs with NUS and a joint research venture. This new joint PhD program is yet another step in strengthening our ties at all academic levels. The joint program will enable students from each university to spend at least nine months in the other university, and to be exposed to their host country’s scientific advances and cultural experiences — a major asset in today’s interconnected global scientific community.”
The Joint PhD program will help to train a core group of biomedical scientists who will have international research experience with a solid footing in Asia. The strong tradition of research and educational excellence at both institutions allows them to complement each other in the scientific frontier and the collaboration will offer its students the best in academic training and ample opportunities for exposure to different cultures.
The joint PhD program aims to take in between two to three students from each institution each year for the next four years. Each institution will conduct its own selection, in accordance with respective standard requirements for acceptance into a PhD program. Student will pay tuition fees set by their home institution for the entire duration of the program. NUS-registered students can also apply for the NUS Research Scholarship.
The two universities have previously collaborated in establishing the NUS – HUJ Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation Research Program in 2010, which is a part of the CREATE (Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise) program of Singapore’s National Research Foundation.
