Singapore, 3 Mar 2010 – The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre (SMART Centre) announced today that it has launched three new programmes to attract highly talented doctoral students, undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers to work on exciting research projects at SMART Centre. SMART Centre is a major new research enterprise established by a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF).

The first of these is a Graduate Fellowship Programme open to currently enrolled first year students and entering doctoral students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Its goal is to use the SMART Centre as a magnet to attract and retain the best and most talented doctoral students from Singapore, the region, and beyond, giving them the unique opportunity to be involved in strategic research at the SMART Centre and to work with faculty members from MIT, NTU and NUS. The funding for this programme comes from the Ministry of Education of Singapore as previously announced in January.

The programme provides 100 four-year fellowships for new or continuing doctoral students from NUS and NTU to conduct their research at the SMART Centre. Students selected for the programme will receive up to four years of full tuition fees at the student’s home university; a monthly stipend of S$3,200 and a travel grant of S$12,000 for a six-month residency at MIT. The students will not be bonded to any institution after their fellowships.

The second programme announced today is aimed at exposing undergraduate students to research experiences involving an internationally diverse group of researchers. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) allows undergraduates from MIT, NUS and NTU to participate in research projects at the SMART Centre and interact with students, researchers and faculty members. Students selected for UROP will spend their summers at the SMART Centre, though the opportunity to spend time during the academic year is also possible. Students will be paid a competitive stipend, while those from MIT will also have their travel and accommodation paid for. This programme is funded by SMART, NUS, NTU and a generous gift from Ms. Dorothy Ng-Chan.

The third programme, a highly selective Postdoctoral Research Fellows Programme aims to attract exceptionally talented postdoctoral researchers to Singapore. In contrast to typical postdoctoral programs where the postdoctoral works for a supervisor on a project defined by the supervisor, this program allows the researchers to conduct research into questions of their own interest. This Postdoctoral Fellows Programme enables recent Ph.D. graduates to conduct research of their own choice in Singapore, in fields related to but not necessarily intimately tied to, the ongoing research at the SMART Centre. In addition to a generous stipend each Fellow will also receive a research grant and travel funds.

See News Release for more.