PhD in Biological Sciences: Alumnus Profile

When Liu Chang says he’s fascinated by plants, he doesn’t mean he’s a keen gardener – but rather that he spends his days in a research laboratory carrying out investigations into plant behavior.

Originally from China, Liu moved to Singapore to study at the National University of Singapore (NUS). During his first degree, in biological sciences, he became increasingly interested in molecular biology. “I felt that the fact that we are able to deal with molecules and conduct experiment on them without seeing them was something very wonderful.”

This interest led to a final-year project focusing on flowering time control, with support from associate professor Yu Hao. “He nurtured my passion for science and encouraged me to take up challenging tasks,” Liu recalls, adding, “I was deeply proud of my work, as I knew that what I was exploring was truly the frontier of science.”

Having experienced such a challenging, supportive and satisfying research environment, staying on at NUS for a PhD was an obvious choice for Liu – and one that has led seamlessly on to further research opportunities.

“Right after my thesis submission, I was recruited by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), and have been working at TLL ever since,” Liu recalls.

In this role, he is able to continue his research in the field of flowering, currently focusing on issues such as “how plants respond to the environment when they decide to flower, and what the universal genetic network is, through the way plants control their inflorescence architectures.”

How has Liu’s graduate experience supported his ability to fulfil this role? “As a graduate student, I became more open-minded, more curious about the world, more rational, and more scientifically savvy,” he says. “In a nutshell, my graduate degree brought me a step closer to being a scientist.”

Like any true scientist, Liu is keen to keep pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. “The more I know, the more I feel that I do not know, and the more I am eager to find out the answers to questions unknown.”

So what next? “In the short term, I wish to get further training in a renowned laboratory in the world, where I could further improve my research capacity and expand my networking connections with other professionals in my field.”

In the longer term, he hopes to continue to contribute to the world of research, and to work within higher education “to help enhance the world’s talent pool.”