The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a
national public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and
Nanyang University
Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...
.
The university offers degree programmes in disciplines at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including in the sciences, medicine and dentistry, design and environment, law, arts and social sciences, engineering, business, computing, and music. NUS's main campus is located adjacent to the
Kent Ridge subzone of
Queenstown.
The
Duke–NUS Medical School
The Duke–NUS Medical School (Duke–NUS) is a graduate medical school in Singapore. Established in April 2005 as the Duke–NUS Graduate Medical School, it is Singapore's second medical school (after the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and ...
is located at the
Outram campus.
The
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central ...
campus houses the
Faculty of Law
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
and
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.
History
The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...
. NUS's affiliated faculty members and researchers include one
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
laureate,
one
Tang Prize
The Tang Prize ( zh, c=唐獎) is a set of Taiwanese biennial international awards bestowed in four fields: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Nomination and selection are conducted by an independent se ...
laureate, and one
Vautrin Lud laureate.
History
In September 1904,
Tan Jiak Kim led a group of representatives of the Chinese and other non-European communities to petition the
governor of the Straits Settlements,
Sir John Anderson
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, (8 July 1882 – 4 January 1958), was a Scottish Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant and politician who is best known for his service in the War Cabinet during the Second World War, for which he ...
, to establish a medical school in Singapore.
It was noted by Anderson that there were other petitions prior which were not successful due to concerns over having a sufficient number of students and support from the local community.
Tan, who was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, managed to raise 87,077
Straits dollars from the community, including a personal donation of $12,000.
On 3 July 1905, the medical school was founded and was known as the ''Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School''. At Anderson's directions, the school was hosted temporarily at a recently emptied block at a Government-run asylum in Pasir Panjang while providing the staff required to run the school.
In 1912, the medical school received an endowment of $120,000 from the
King Edward VII Memorial Fund, started by physician
Lim Boon Keng. Subsequently, on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to ''
King Edward VII Medical School''. In 1921, it was again changed to ''King Edward VII College of Medicine'' to reflect its academic status.
In 1928, Raffles College, a separate institution from the medical school, was established to promote education in arts and social sciences.
University of Malaya in Singapore (1949–1962)
On 8 October 1949, Raffles College was merged with King Edward VII College of Medicine to form the
University of Malaya
The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...
. The two institutions were merged to provide for the higher education needs of the
Federation of Malaya
Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...
.
The growth of University of Malaya was very rapid during the first decade of its establishment and resulted in the setting up of two autonomous divisions in 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
.
Nanyang University (1955–1980)
In 1955,
Nanyang University
Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...
(abbreviated Nan-tah, ) was established on the backdrop of the Chinese community in Singapore.
University of Singapore (1962–1980)
In 1960, the governments of then Federation of Malaya and Singapore indicated their desire to change the status of the divisions into that of a national university.
Legislation was passed in 1961, establishing the former Kuala Lumpur division as the University of Malaya, while the Singapore division was renamed the University of Singapore on 1 January 1962.
Present form
The National University of Singapore (NUS) was formed with the merger of the University of Singapore and
Nanyang University
Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...
on 6 August 1980. This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool the two institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity and promote English as Singapore's main language of education. The original crest of Nanyang University with three intertwined rings was incorporated into the new coat-of-arms of NUS.
Most departments of the university were situated at the Bukit Timah campus, with the gradual shift to the Kent Ridge site starting in 1969 and completed in 1986. NUS began its entrepreneurial education endeavours in the 1980s, with the setting up of the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship in 1988. In 2001, this was renamed the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC), and became a division of NUS Enterprise. NEC is currently headed by Wong Poh Kam
and its activities are organised into four areas, including a business incubator, experiential education, entrepreneurship development and entrepreneurship research.
NUS has 17 faculties and schools across three campus locations in Singapore – Kent Ridge, Bukit Timah and Outram. NUS also collaborates with many other universities around the world, such as
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, and
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...
.
NUS has a diverse range of students and faculty stemming from distinct foreign nationalities. 65% of faculty and staff are foreign nationals, ranking it 3rd (tied with Nanyang Technological University) in terms of foreign representation among faculty across the top 100 universities according to QS. It remains one of the few top 100 universities with more than 60% of foreign faculty. Likewise, 36% or 12,057 of students are foreign nationals, with 62% them being post-graduate students.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the National University of Singapore was adopted in 1980 and modernized in 2001. It is the combination of the coat of arms of the former University of Singapore used since 1962 (consisting of an open book and a lion, which itself was derived from the former coat of arms of the University of Malaya used from 1949 until 1962, which featured a tiger instead of a lion), and the emblem of the former Nanyang University, three interlocking rings but without the star used since 1955.
It is
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
ed:
The lion represents NUS as a Singaporean university, the open book represents knowledge and the three rings represents the university's role in creating, imparting and applying knowledge, as well as creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The National University of Singapore is one of two public universities in Singapore to adopt its coat of arms, alongside the
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country.
The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...
, with which it has relations.
Reputation and rankings
Overall Rankings
Globally, NUS was #8 in the
QS World University Rankings
The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...
2025,
#17 in the
Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025,
#22 in the
USNWR 2024–2025 Best Global Universities Rankings, #68 in the
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2024, #25 in the
SCImago Institutions Rankings
The SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) since 2009 has published its international ranking of worldwide research institutions, the SIR World Report. The SIR World Report is the work of the SCImago Research Group,[METU
Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. As Turkey’s top ranked university, they focus on r ...]
's
University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) 2022–2023.
NUS was the 24th best-ranked university worldwide in terms of aggregate performance across THE, QS, and ARWU, as reported b
ARTU2024.
QS has ranked NUS among the world's top 15 since 2016. THE has ranked NUS among the world's top 30 since 2013. The joint
THE–QS World University Rankings from 2004 to 2009 ranked NUS globally 18th (2004), 22nd (2005), 19th (2006), 33rd (2007), 30th (2008 and 2009).
NUS was 19th in the THE World Reputation Rankings 2025,
and was named the world's 10th most international university by THE in 2023.
The World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University features numerous NUS researchers from a wide range of disciplines.
Subject/Area Rankings
In the 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject, NUS ranked among the global top 10 for 19 subjects.
In the 2024 QS Global Executive MBA Rankings, NUS ranked 14th globally.
In the 2025 QS Global MBA Rankings, NUS ranked 25th globally.
In the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject, NUS achieved high global ranks in several subjects, being ranked 11th in Computer Science, 9th in Engineering, 11th in Law, and 15th in Business & Economics. In all subjects, NUS held the top spot nationally.
In the 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, NUS exhibited strong global standing, being ranked among the global top 30 in 22 subjects.
In most subjects, NUS achieved a national rank of 1.
NUS's performance in the Business School Rankings by Financial Times:
Graduate Employability Rankings
NUS graduates ranked 8th worldwide in the Times Higher Education's Global University Employability Ranking 2022, and 17th worldwide in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.
Academic structure
NUS has a semester-based modular system for conducting undergraduate courses. It adopts features of the British system, such as
small group teaching (
tutorial
In education, a tutorial is a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture, a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete ...
s) on top of regular two-hour lectures, and the American system (
course credit
A course credit is a measure of the size of an educational course, often used to determine whether the requirements for an award have been met, to facilitate transfer between institutions, or to enhance intercomparability of qualifications. Credit ...
s). NUS has 17 faculties and schools across three campuses, including a music conservatory.
University Scholars Programme
The University Scholars Programme (USP) was an undergraduate academic programme established in 2001 in NUS, which comprised a compulsory general education programme. USP admitted 240 undergraduates annually.
USP students resided in Cinnamon College at the NUS University Town.
This programme has since merged with
Yale-NUS to become the NUS College.
NUS College
A modernized version of the University Scholars Programme, the NUS College today serves as the university's
honors college, with a more rigorous application and a focus on global citizenship. The NUS College program notably involves foreign, service-based exchange around South-East Asia, guided by their core ideal that "Learning is a contact sport."
Faculties and schools
Business
The NUS Business School was founded as the Department of Business Administration in 1965. Today, the school has over 280 faculty members and 7,000 students.
Computing
The School of Computing established in 1998, has two departments: Computer Science; and Information Systems and Analytics.
Dentistry
The Faculty of Dentistry traces its origins in 1929 as a Department of Dentistry within the King Edward VII College of Medicine. The faculty conducts a four-year dental course leading to a
Bachelor of Dental Surgery
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...
degree.
Design and Engineering
The interdisciplinary College of Design and Engineering (CDE) was established in 2021, bringing together two pre-existing faculties, the School of Design and Environment (SDE) and the Faculty of Engineering (FoE).
The School of Design and Environment has three departments: Department of Architecture; Department of the Built Environment; and the Division of Industrial Design. The Faculty of Engineering was established in 1968. It is the largest faculty in the university, and consists of several departments spanning diverse engineering fields.
Humanities and Sciences
The interdisciplinary College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) was established in 2020. It comprises the two largest faculties, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Science, though both faculties are still branded independently, unlike CDE.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has roots in Raffles College. Initially offering just four subjects: English, History, Geography and Economics, the Faculty now offers majors, minors and special programmes across 16 Departments. This includes the Centre for Language Studies, which teaches 13 different languages, and the Office of Programmes, which houses multidisciplinary fields and minor programmes. The South Asian Studies Programme is not officially classified as a department, but as a departmental entity.
The Faculty of Science comprises multiple departments, spanning across natural and applied sciences. The first female Dean of the Faculty of Science was
Gloria Lim, who was appointed in 1973. She served a four-year term and was reappointed in 1979, but resigned after one year to allow
Koh Lip Lin to continue his post. In 1980, University of Singapore merged with
Nanyang University
Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...
to form NUS, resulting in overlapping posts.
Integrative Sciences and Engineering
The NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS) was established in 2003. The principal purpose of NGS is "to promote integrative PhD research encompassing both laboratory work and coursework programmes which not only transcend traditional subject boundaries but also provides students with a depth of experience about science and the way it is carried out."
Law
The NUS Faculty of Law was first established as a Department of Law in the University of Malaya in 1956. The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the university the following year. In 1980, the faculty shifted to the Kent Ridge campus, but in 2006 it relocated back to the Bukit Timah site.
The faculty offers LLB, LLM, JD, and PhD programmes, alongside continuing education and graduate certificate programmes.
Medicine
The Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at NUS was first established as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in 1905. The School uses the British undergraduate medical system, offering a full-time undergraduate programme leading to a
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...
(MBBS). For Nursing, the Bachelor of Science (Nursing) conducted by the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies is offered. The department also offers postgraduate programmes in nursing, medicine, and medical science.
Duke–NUS Medical School
The Duke–NUS Medical School (Duke–NUS) is a graduate medical school in Singapore. The school was set up in April 2005 as the Duke–NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore's second medical school, after the
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and before the
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. The Duke–NUS Medical School is a collaboration between
Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
in North Carolina, United States and the National University of Singapore.
Music
The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) is a collaboration between NUS and the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music and dance music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliat ...
of
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
. Singapore's first conservatory of music, YSTCM was founded as the Singapore Conservatory of Music in 2001. The School was renamed Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music after a gift was made by the family of the late Dr Yong Loo Lin in memory of his daughter.
Public Health
The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is Singapore's first and only tertiary education institution for public health.
The school traces its origins to the University of Malaya's Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, formed in 1948.
The School of Public health also hosts the
Asia Centre for Health Security.
Public Policy
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy was established in 2004 as an autonomous graduate school of NUS. Although the School was formally launched in 2004, it inherited NUS's Public Policy Programme, which was established in 1992 in partnership with
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
's
Kennedy School of Government.
Yale-NUS College
The Yale-NUS College is a
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
in Singapore established in August 2013 as a joint project of
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
and the National University of Singapore. It is an autonomous college within NUS, allowing it greater freedom to develop its own policies while tapping on the existing facilities and resources of the main university.
Students who graduate receive a degree awarded by NUS.
Pericles Lewis, a former professor at Yale, was appointed as the founding president in 2012.
In August 2021, NUS announced that it was going to merge Yale-NUS College with the University Scholars Programme to form a new honours college, NUS College, by 2025. The merger marks the dissolution of NUS's partnership with Yale University. The last class of Yale-NUS College students were those admitted in 2021, following which Yale-NUS would operate for several years until all of its students have graduated.
Teaching centres
NUS has a variety of teaching centres including:
*Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL)
*Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT)
*Centre for English Language Communication (CELC)
*
Institute of Systems Science (ISS),
which offers professional IT continuing education
*Centre for Teaching and Learning CTL at Yale-NUS College
NUS High School of Mathematics and Science
NUS High School of Mathematics and Science is a school specialising in mathematics and science, and provides secondary and pre-tertiary education to students with inclinations to these fields.
Research
The major research focuses at NUS are biomedical science, physical science, engineering, nanoscience, material science, information technology, humanities, social sciences, and defence.
Biomedical Engineering
One of several niche research areas of strategic importance to Singapore being undertaken at NUS is
bioengineering
Biological engineering or
bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...
. Initiatives in this area include bioimaging,
tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biolo ...
and tissue modulation.
The university has received a number of grants from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
for research into areas including
vaccine
A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...
development,
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...
,
mobile devices in healthcare,
iris recognition
Iris recognition is an automated method of biometrics, biometric identification that uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques on video images of one or both of the iris (anatomy), irises of an individual's Human eye, eyes, whose complex ...
,
synthetic antibodies,
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, and government response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.
Research institutes and centres
Currently, NUS hosts 21 university-level research institutes and centres (RICs) in various fields. Four of these RICs have been designated Research Centres of Excellence by the Singapore government — the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore,
Centre for Quantum Technologies, Mechanobiology Institute, and Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials.
Besides university-level RICs, NUS also affiliates with other universities to establish research centres and institutes. The Logistics Institute – Asia Pacific is a collaborative effort between NUS and the
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...
for research and education in logistics. The Next Age Institute, a partnership with
Washington University in St. Louis, is the most recent cross-university centre involving NUS, established in February 2015.
Entrepreneurship
NUS began its entrepreneurial education endeavours in the 1980s, establishing the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship in 1988. In 2001, this was renamed the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC), and became a division of NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of NUS. Its activities include entrepreneurial education and outreach, technology commercialisation, and a business incubator.
The NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme was started in 2001, giving students the opportunity to experience, live, work and study in an entrepreneurial hub. Participants of the programme either spend 6 months or a year overseas, taking courses at partner universities and working in start-ups.
The NUS Industry Liaison Office (ILO) is another department that is involved in the creation of deep tech start-ups. It manages the university's technology transfer and promotes research collaborations with industry and partners. ILO manages NUS intellectual property, commercialises its intellectual assets and facilitates the spinning off of technologies into start-up companies.
Campus facilities and resources
NUS's main campus is located in the southwestern part of Singapore, adjacent to the
Kent Ridge subzone of Queenstown, accommodating an area of .
The
Duke–NUS Medical School
The Duke–NUS Medical School (Duke–NUS) is a graduate medical school in Singapore. Established in April 2005 as the Duke–NUS Graduate Medical School, it is Singapore's second medical school (after the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and ...
, a postgraduate
medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
jointly established with
Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
, is located at the
Outram campus;
and its
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central ...
campus houses the
Faculty of Law
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
and
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.
History
The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...
.
File:Mochtar Riady Building, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore - 20111104.jpg, Mochtar Riady Building, Business School
File:NUS, Engineering 2, Nov 06.JPG, Engineering 2
File:YST Conservatory, National University of Singapore, February 2020.jpg, Yong Siew Toh Music Conservatory
File:National University Centre for Oral Health, February 2020.jpg, Dentistry
File:Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, February 2020 (2).jpg, Faculty of Science
File:NUS SDE4, February 2020.jpg, SDE4
File:NUS SoC COM1.jpg, School of Computing
File:University Hall, National University of Singapore - 20070125.jpg, University Hall
File:Entrance E of the National University of Singapore 20210426 165548.jpg, Entrance E
File:Yale-NUS College Facade - Aug 2019.jpg, Yale-NUS College
File:NUS Law Campus.jpg, Bukit Timah campus which houses the Law and Public Policy schools
File:Li Ka Shing Hall, LKY School, February 2020.jpg, LKYSPP, Bukit Timah Campus
File:NUH Medical Centre (2025) - img 02.jpg, National University Hospital
IT and computing services
NUS hosts NUSNET, an
intranet
An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in ...
, which is used in research, teaching, learning and administration. In 2004, a campus-wide
grid computing network was deployed, connecting at least 1,000 computers. At the time, it was one of the largest of such virtual supercomputing facilities in the region.
Libraries
The NUS Libraries currently comprises seven libraries: the Central Library, Wan Boo Sow Chinese Library ( zh, s=雲茂潮中文图书馆), C J Koh Law Library,
Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, the Medicine+Science Library, Music Library and Yale-NUS College Library. As of June 2017, there were 2,354,741 unique titles, and 26,074 microform resources in the collection. This has since expanded to 3,018,572 unique physical titles, 94,446 electronic periodicals, 1,244,448 electronic books and 936 databases, as of 2022.
File:NUS, Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library 3, Nov 06.JPG, Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library, 2006
File:OpenSpace-NationalUniversityofSingapore-20080108.jpg, Open space outside Central Library, 2008
File:Yale-NUS College Library - Jul 2019.jpg, Yale-NUS College Library, 2019
File:Atrium of Medicine+Science Library.jpg, Medicine+Science Library, 2023
Digital Gems digital newspaper archive database
Digital Gems digital newspaper archive database was established by the National University of Singapore NUS Library and contains various digitized collections, including Chinese-language newspapers published in Southeast Asian countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, 152 types are included, including Chinese newspapers from Singapore and Malaysia. The newspaper collection is the most abundant. In addition, the platform also includes many historical documents on China and overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Most of these documents are publicly accessible resources and are open to readers around the world for online reading, downloading and printing. They provide valuable information for scholars who are committed to Southeast Asian history and overseas Chinese research. Access to historical materials.
In addition to newspaper archives, this database also contains periodicals and books from the 20th century and is available to the public for free.
Types of newspapers
Chinese newspapers from six Southeast Asian countries from 1887 to 1985, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. There are also newspapers in English and Malay from Singapore and Malaysia.
Other documents
Singapore Law Documents (1867–1962), Singapore and Malaya Medical Journals and Books (1911–1959), Malay Literature (1812–2017), Pre-war and post-war Japanese studies of Southeast Asia (1889–1954), Historical map of Singapore (1846–2010) and Singaporean and international private documents.
Singaporean and international private documents
Famous Singaporean actor Yan Boyuan (
Bai Yan) (born and died from 1920 to 2019)
CarlA. Trocki, Australian historian of Southeast Asia and China Carl Anthony Trocki (born and died 1940–2024)
British Southeast Asian biologist Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy (1933-)
Malaysian banker
Yeap Chor Ee (born and died 1867–1952)
Personal documents of WangZengshan (born and died 1903–1961), the head of the Chinese Islamic Mission to the Near East (1937–1939) and the Director of the Civil Affairs Department of the Xinjiang Provincial Government of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(1945–1949).
= How to use
=
Just go to the official website of the National University of Singapore Library and click "Digital Gems", scroll down on the main page, then click on the Chinese newspaper entry among the entries, then click on the nationality of the newspaper, and finally click on the one you are looking for The newspaper type and time are completed.
= Website link
=
https://digitalgems.nus.edu.sg/
University Town
The NUS University Town (UTown) opened in August 2011. Located at the Kent Ridge campus, it was built on the site of a former golf course. UTown hosts four residential colleges, a graduate residence, the Yale-NUS campus, research institutes (such as the
TUM CREATE), lecture theatres, restaurants, convenience stores, and a barber shop.
File:EduSports Complex, University Town, National University of Singapore - 20140920-01.jpg, alt=
File:CREATE Tower, University Town, National University of Singapore - 20140920.jpg, alt=
File:University Town, National University of Singapore, February 2020 (2).jpg, alt=
File:University Town Skyline from Northwest Kent Ridge Campus, National University of Singapore, February 2020.jpg, alt=
Transportation
The university has a free
Internal Shuttle Bus system that operates across the Bukit Timah and Kent Ridge campuses. In late 2022, the university started to deploy electric bus in partnership with CDG.
File:NUS Shuttle Bus PD564D at COM 2.jpg, alt=
File:Campus shuttle bus arriving at the bus stop near the Forum along Kent Ridge Crescent, National University of Singapore - 20070125.jpg, alt=
File:PD649T A2.jpg, alt=
File:NUS Shuttle Bus PA9772B at UTown.jpg, alt=
Student accommodation
NUS has three types of student accommodation: halls of residence, student residences, and residential colleges. There are about 6,000 residential places distributed between halls of residence and student residences on campus, in addition to around 4,100 students who live in the residential colleges and graduate residences.
Halls of residence
NUS has seven halls of residence with about 3,000 residential places. A points system, based on co-curricular activities and leadership roles, is used to allocate residential places to students. Halls have their own interest groups and student productions in addition to university-wide student co-curricular activities. Halls compete with each other in the Inter-Hall Games.
The halls of residence are:
* Eusoff Hall
* Kent Ridge Hall
* King Edward VII Hall
* Raffles Hall
* Sheares Hall
* Temasek Hall
File:NUS, Eusoff Hall, Nov 06.JPG, Eusoff Hall
File:NUS, Kent Ridge Hall, Nov 06.JPG, Kent Ridge Hall
File:Block 3 of Raffles Hall, National University of Singapore, at night - 20070116.jpg, Raffles Hall
File:Main entrance to Temasek Hall, NUS.JPG, Temasek Hall
Student residences
NUS has two student residences – Prince George's Park Residences and UTown Residences – for undergraduate and graduate students. The residences are arranged in clusters of 11 to 15 single rooms, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. The UTown Residences also has apartments for students.
Residential colleges
NUS also houses residential colleges, which are modelled after the
college systems of universities. Like halls, residential colleges have unique co-curricular activities. Residential colleges also have their own academic programmes, with general education requirements differing from each other and the rest of the university. The academic programmes in residential colleges take place in
seminar
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...
s.
Cinnamon College/West Wing
Cinnamon College housed the University Scholars Programme (USP) until the 2021 intake. Together with the current Yale-NUS College Campus (which has been renamed the "West Wing"), the college will house the NUS College from the 2022 intake onwards. USP students and faculty are accommodated in 600 rooms.
Starting from the 2025 academic year, Cinnamon Wing will house Acacia College, NUS' fifth residential college, with a focus on
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
.
Tembusu College
Tembusu College was the second residential colleges in NUS University Town. Tembusu houses mainly first and second-year undergraduates, in addition to resident faculty, visiting scholars and graduate fellows.
The former founding Rector of Tembusu College is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large and former United Nations Ambassador
Tommy Koh, who is also the former dean of the NUS Faculty of Law.
College of Alice & Peter Tan
Formerly called the Angsana College, the College of Alice & Peter Tan (CAPT) is a Residential College for all NUS undergraduates which emphasises active citizenship and community engagement. It provides a two-year academic programme.
Residential College 4
Residential College 4 (RC4) is another Residential College in NUS with a thematic focus of
systems thinking
Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...
. Engineering Scholars Programme students are offered accommodation at this RC.
Ridge View Residential College
Ridge View Residential College (RVRC) was formally established in April 2014, housed in the former Ridge View Residences. It is the only residential college that is situated outside University Town. The site was the former location for Kent Ridge Hall until November 2002. In November 2015, an annexe building to RVRC was constructed. It was completed in February 2017.
Vice-chancellors and presidents
Below is a list of presidents throughout the history of the National University of Singapore (and its predecessors). The office of the President of Raffles College was renamed Principal of Raffles College from 1938.
Notable alumni
Since its inception in 1905, NUS has had many distinguished alumni from Singapore and Malaysia, including two Singapore prime ministers and four Singapore presidents, two Malaysian prime ministers, and many politicians, judiciaries, business executives, educators and local celebrities. It counts among its graduates, heads of state/government
Abdul Razak Hussein,
Benjamin Sheares,
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011.
He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...
,
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...
and
S. R. Nathan. The first prime minister of Singapore,
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
, attended Raffles College briefly prior to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
A number of its graduates are also notable politicians such as
Rais Yatim,
Malaysia's former minister of information, communications and culture,
Ng Eng Hen
Ng Eng Hen, Hinghwa Romanized: ''Ńg Ṳ̂ng-héng'' (born 10 December 1958) is a Singaporean former politician and oncologist who previously served as Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2025. A member of the governing People's Action Party
...
, Singapore's minister for defence,
Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's minister for foreign affairs, and
S. Jayakumar, Singapore's former deputy prime minister.
Many of Singapore's business leaders come from NUS, including as former chairman of the
Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX Group) is a Singapore-based exchange conglomerate, operating Equity (finance), equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets. It provides a range of listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and ...
, and
Singapore Tourism Board Chew Choon Seng,
CEO of the
Hyflux Group
Olivia Lum,
former CEO of the
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...
Ho Ching,
Chairman of
SPRING Singapore
The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Si ...
Philip Yeo and CEO of
Razer Inc Min-Liang Tan.
In international politics, NUS counts among its graduates former director-general of the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
Margaret Chan,
former president of the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
Kishore Mahbubani,
and vice-president of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
Ng Ser Miang.
NUS had served as Singapore's only law school for half a century, until the
SMU School of Law was set up in 2007. Many of Singapore's judges and lawyers come from the school. This includes Singapore's Minister for Law, and Home Affairs
K. Shanmugam, the fourth
Chief Justice of Singapore
The chief justice of Singapore is the chief justice, presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest office in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the President of Singapore, president, on the advice of the Prime ...
Sundaresh Menon and the third chief justice of Singapore
Chan Sek Keong.
In academia, NUS faculty include former vice-president of finance for the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, and
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
Yoke San Reynolds,
and former vice-chancellor of the
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
Wang Gungwu.
File:Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore Making a Toast at a State Dinner Held in His Honor, 1975.jpg, alt=, Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore
File:GohChokTong-WashingtonDC-20010614.jpg, Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011.
He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...
, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
File:Tony Tan Keng Yam cropp.jpg, Tony Tan
Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017.
Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his polit ...
, 7th President of Singapore
File:President of Singapore SR Nathan.jpg, S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore
File:Mahathir Mohamad addressing the United Nations General Assembly (September 25 2003).jpg, Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...
, 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia
File:Margaret Chan - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 crop.jpg, Margaret Chan, 7th Director-General of the World Health Organization
File:Kishore Mahbubani - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011.jpg, Kishore Mahbubani, President of the United Nations Security Council (2001–2002)
File:President Halimah Yacob in 2019.jpg, Halimah Yacob, 8th President of Singapore
File:NgEngHen2017.jpg, Ng Eng Hen
Ng Eng Hen, Hinghwa Romanized: ''Ńg Ṳ̂ng-héng'' (born 10 December 1958) is a Singaporean former politician and oncologist who previously served as Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2025. A member of the governing People's Action Party
...
, Singapore Minister for Defence
File:Graduationshaari.gif, Sha'ari Tadin, Member of Parliament and founder of Singapore Central Council (Majlis Pusat Singapura)
File:Wang Gungwu - 20101125.jpg, Wang Gungwu, historian
File:Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the United States Department of State in Washington, DC. on June 16, 2023 - (cropped).jpg, Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs Singapore
File:K. Shanmugam in meeting with Iranian Parliament chairman Ali Larijani.jpg, K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Singapore
See also
*
Education in Singapore
Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of Education (MOE). It controls the development and administration of state schools receiving Welfare (financial aid), taxpayers' funding, but also has an adv ...
*
National University Hospital
*
Nanyang University
Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...
*
Universiti Malaya
*
S*, a collaboration between seven universities and the Karolinska Institutet for training in bioinformatics and genomics
References
External links
*
National University of Singapore official site
{{Authority control
ASEAN University Network
Universities and colleges established in 1980
Education in Singapore
1980 establishments in Singapore
Queenstown, Singapore
Tanglin
Autonomous Universities in Singapore