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5th January 2007

6TH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC ADVISORY PANEL TO ADVISE SINGAPORE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY SECTOR

1.         The 6th Meeting of the International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP) of the Ministry of Education (MOE) will be held in Singapore from 8 to 12 January 2007.

2.         The IAAP was established in 1997 by MOE to advise the Singapore universities on major trends and directions in university education and research with a view to developing them into world-class institutions of excellence.  The IAAP convenes on a biennial basis and has met five times previously - in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005.

3.         The 6th Meeting of the IAAP will be chaired by Dr Tony Tan, Chairman of the National Research Foundation and Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings.  The IAAP comprises 12 distinguished academics, university leaders and prominent industry figures from Finland, India, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.  Of the 12, six are new members.  The Presidents of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nayang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) serve as ex-officio members.  (Please see Annex for the full list of IAAP members.)

4.         With NUS and NTU becoming Autonomous Universities (AUs) similar to SMU, the Singapore university sector is poised to enter a new phase in development.  Going forward, the IAAP’s role has been expanded from advising the three AUs to providing guidance on the development of Singapore’s tertiary sector as a whole.  At the 6th IAAP meeting, the IAAP will help MOE articulate the vision and chart the strategic direction for the Singapore tertiary sector in the next stage of development.

5.         The theme of the meeting is “Developing Singapore as a Knowledge and Research Hub”, with a focus on building world-class educational institutions and encouraging research in Singapore.  The IAAP will be updated on recent changes in Singapore’s research and university sector landscape.  In its deliberation meetings, the IAAP will discuss how the university sector can meet the challenges posed by Singapore’s transition into a knowledge-based economy, including the role of the three AUs in the new R&D landscape.

6.         The IAAP will hold discussions at NUS, NTU and SMU.  It will interact with the senior management, faculty members and students at the universities.  The IAAP will also be meeting senior officials from the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Manpower and statutory boards such as the Economic Development Board and Agency for Science Technology and Research. 

7.         In addition, the IAAP will call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 11 January 2007.  On the same evening, the IAAP members will attend a dinner hosted by the President of the Republic of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan.