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The postgraduate landscape of Singapore�s oldest university.
As Vice Provost (Academic Personnel) of National University of Singapore (NUS) � which celebrates its centenary in 2005 � Professor Lai Choy Heng is one of its most senior managers. Tony Martin reports Professor Lai�s insightful perception of NUS�s international postgraduate development.
WHAT IS NUS�S GENERAL POLICY TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL MASTERS AND PHD STUDENTS?
A very large proportion of our postgraduate students is from overseas and in many faculties they form the majority. However, when we admit students, our main criteria for acceptance is not their country of domicile but their suitability for the course to which they are applying.
FROM WHICH COUNTRIES DO MOST OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COME AND FROM WHERE DO YOU FORESEE THE BIGGEST GROWTH IN FUTURE?
There are a lot of Asian students, particularly from China and India and from the Asean countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines with an increasing number now coming from Vietnam.We have some European students but relatively small numbers compared with Asia.
We have a significant number of exchange students from Europe but not so many full-time. More European students are enrolled on the joint programmes we now run with European universities such as the design technology programme with University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Also, some are on the programmes offered by Technische Universit�t M�nchen/German Institute of Science and Technology here in Singapore.
�Ten years ago a Chinese student would prefer to go to an unheard of US or UK university rather than come to Singapore, but I think there�s been a tremendous reversal.�
WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS AT NUS?
The total number of graduate students is about 9,000 including those on part-time coursework programmes in engineering, science and MBA masters students. These number about 5,000 and of the remaining 4,000 about 60 or 70% are of foreign origin. Science and engineering account for the highest proportion of these while medicine and social sciences have more local students.
WHAT ABOUT NUMBERS IN THE HIGH DEMAND BUSINESS AREA?
Of course there is demand in all directions and our business school cannot meet this demand.We have to be very selective and choose niche areas with a significant role and impact and we are very strong in MBA and especially Executive MBA. Fulltime MBA students are important as they go into management of organisations but our part-time EMBA students are important in establishing NUS as a top school and influencing recruitment to other MBA programmes.
Due to our regional position in commerce and banking, we do these things better in Singapore and they are an important part of our EMBA programme. At the other end of the spectrum, we are trying to beef up our PhD because it is important to have a good research basis for the reputation of the business school.We are not going to be seen as one that is purely commercial, worrying about prestige and money. In the institution overall we like our students to pursue academic excellence and we cannot do without the PhD part.
We are working very much along the lines of an American graduate school. So when we admit our graduate students it's not specifically to a masters course. They enter as graduate students and have to take a qualifying examination. If they pass that they become a candidate for a PhD.
DO MBA STUDENTS OFTEN PROGRESS TO A PHD?
MBA students tend to be of a different type � they tend to look at it more as a terminal qualification than as a preparation for a PhD. But some do progress to PhD. WHAT
ABOUT DIVERSITY AMONGST ITS INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS? DOES NUS HAVE A STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING IT?
Among the countries from which we are recruiting, Singapore is now becoming a possibility for masters and PhD. Until recently, students would have expected to go to the USA, UK, and Australia. But things have changed quite a bit. Ten years ago a Chinese student would prefer to go to an unheard of US or UK university rather than come to Singapore, but I think there's been a tremendous reversal.We have established ourselves as an excellent institution in quite a few areas, notably in engineering and in some areas of humanities, and our business school is up and coming. Our difficulty is in getting even higher quality candidates than we are getting now.We will never be satisfied! So this is a continuing challenge, but we are also beginning to diversify � looking outside China and also not just concentrating on Beijing and Shanghai but also on other major Chinese cities.We are trying hard to make headway in India. All short-listed PhD students are interviewed before admission so interview teams go to China twice a year, ditto for India. So far we have made less concerted effort in other countries.
