Last week eleven undergraduate science and engineering students from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore visited Warwick to gain interdisciplinary research based training. They were hosted by the departments of Physics, Computer Science, the School of Life Sciences and the Biomedical Sciences Division at Warwick Medical School.

A research intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. In engineering and technology, it is ranked 5th worldwide in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018.

Dr Chrystala Constantinidou, Principal Research Fellow in Microbial Genomics, Warwick Medical School, said:

We are delighted to welcome NTU scholars to Warwick and give them the opportunity to interact with lead academic staff, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students.

Through lab tours, lectures, practical demonstrations and hands on data analysis the students were given the opportunity to gain an understanding of our current research projects and develop their expertise.”

One of the research groups to host visiting NTU students was the Materials Solid-State NMR group in Milburn House.

The group undertakes a large portfolio of research, spanning areas such as energy materials, catalytic materials and surfaces, glasses and bioglasses, and many systems underpinned by organic, organometallic, transition metal and rare earth chemistry.

The students were given an introduction to the solid state NMR technique which is a key characterisation technique in all branches of materials science and is used ­to study the structural and functional questions that characterise these systems.

Warwick has a history of collaboration with NTU spanning joint degrees, student exchange and undergraduate research, as well as disciplinary-level research partnerships. The NMR group are currently working with colleagues to establish a joint PhD programme. This will give students access to world class expertise and equipment at each partner institution and the opportunity to understand the global context of their research.

Dr John V. Hanna, Principal Research Fellow, University of Warwick said:

It has been a pleasure to welcome these elite NTU students to Warwick and to give them practical experience in the UK’s largest solid state laboratory.

We are excited by the developing partnership between the University of Warwick and NTU and are committed to establishing a sustainable joint PhD programme which will have high industrial relevance.

We will be looking to expand the programme beyond its current cohort by collaborating with institutions around the world.”