Parliamentary Replies
Partnership with MIT
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) if he will outline the scope of partnership between Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the fourth university; and (b) what steps are being taken to ensure that Singapore benefits from the partnership.
Response by Minister Ng Eng Hen
The New University will forge strategic alliances with top universities in the US and China to position itself well for the future. The Ministry of Education is very pleased that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT will be the New University’s US partner.
MIT is renowned internationally for its excellent, rigorous, undergraduate education. Under the partnership, it will help the New University develop an innovative S&T curriculum, which would adopt best practices from MIT and have design as the integrating factor for different disciplines. MIT will also advise the New University on its pedagogy and the academic structures and policies that will be required to support its education and research programmes.
In addition to building up the New University’s educational capabilities, the partnership with MIT would also kick-start the development of the New University’s research capabilities. MIT will develop major research programmes that would involve top-class faculty in partnership with the New University.
Finally, MIT has committed to send its faculty to undertake teaching activities and research at the New University. Newly-recruited faculty of the New University will spend up to a year in MIT participating in activities on the MIT campus and collaborating with MIT faculty in research and curriculum development and design. Student exchanges will also contribute to the close links between the two institutions. Such student and faculty exchanges will also encourage in the New University the same spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that has made MIT a top-ranking university internationally.
As with all our existing partnerships with top overseas institutions, the Ministry of Education will work closely with both the New University and MIT to implement the partnership, and to ensure its success. Clear goals and responsibilities will be laid out for both sides. A robust governance structure will be established to ensure accountability for these goals and responsibilities. Clear channels of communication will also be established to facilitate resolution of any issues that may emerge.
Aside from measures taken to ensure the success of the partnership, I would like to assure Mrs Teo that MIT leadership and faculty have expressed strong support for the partnership, which will be MIT’s most significant collaboration on undergraduate education to date. The partnership will also build on the strong educational and research linkages that already exist between MIT and Singapore institutions through collaborations such as the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.