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  • NUS’ MyISIS Portal May Change Its Name

    NUS’ MyISIS Portal May Change Its Name

    With its student online information platform having an acronym similar to that of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be looking into whether a name-change is needed.

    Last month, Dunman High School changed the name of its Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) to Dunman High Information System (DHIS).

    MyISIS is where NUS students pay their school fees, check examination seating plans and schedules, besides using it for other administrative functions. “The university will conduct a review to determine if a change in the name of the NUS student platform is necessary,” said an NUS spokesperson in an email response to TODAY’s queries.

    Most NUS students TODAY spoke to said there was no need for a revision, as it is far-fetched for anyone to draw links between the university and the militant group.

    “I don’t think it is necessary because I would think students know better than that,” said sociology undergraduate Nurul Syuhaidah Senin, 21. “But I feel that it would just give people peace of mind.”

    Dentistry undergraduate Chloe Sim, 21, added: “If (tomorrow) a new terrorist group with NUS as its acronym pops up, are we supposed to change the name of our school, too? It’s just bad luck that it coincides, but there’s no need to be drastic.”

    However, financial engineering postgraduate Kim Vu, 27, felt a name change would be appropriate as those who have suffered from the group’s terrorist acts could find the similarity offensive.

    “The name doesn’t affect me, but it may offend other people. So the change can be good,” he said. “It will not hurt anyone, anyway.”

    In an email sent to Dunman High students on June 18 and that has since been circulated online, the school said it was changing the name of its student information system to DHIS because the system “shares the same acronym as the terrorist group in Syria”.

    When contacted by TODAY, the school declined to comment.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • NUS Law Professor Who Assaulted Taxi Driver Sacked

    NUS Law Professor Who Assaulted Taxi Driver Sacked

    The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor who was sentenced to four months in jail for attacking a cabby has reportedly been sacked.

    A NUS spokesman was quoted as saying that 43-year-old Sundram Peter Soosay had been fired on Monday. His academic profile had also been removed from the website of the law faculty, although his picture and name was still listed on the administration page as of Thursday night.

    On June 26, the day Soosay was sentenced, an NUS spokesman had told The Straits Times: “The university expects all members of its community to conduct themselves in accordance with the law. Dr Soosay has been convicted of a serious offence. The university has suspended him without pay since May 29 this year, and will now initiate disciplinary action.”

    Soosay, who was born in Malaysia and is a Singapore permanent resident, boarded Mr Sun Chun Hua’s cab in the early hours of Christmas Day in 2013 while intoxicated, and vomited soon after. He then alighted near King Albert Park, in Clementi Road, and walked away without paying the fare.

    After the cabby chased him and threatened to call the police, Soosay handed him a $50 note. Instead of waiting for his change, he struck Mr Sun from behind, straddling him and punching his face repeatedly.

    Mr Sun needed multiple stitches on his face and left arm, where he suffered a deep wound that exposed the bone, and had to be hospitalised. His injuries left him unable to work for 17 days, and it took him more than a month to regain the use of his left arm and resume driving.

    Soosay, who initially claimed that Mr Sun was the first to attack had told the court through his lawyer that he would be appealing his conviction and sentence.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • NTU Top Scientific Research Institution In Singapore

    NTU Top Scientific Research Institution In Singapore

    An increase in high-quality research output has helped the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to emerge as the top scientific research institution in Singapore, according to Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious specialist research publications.

    The Nature Index Global, which was released on Wednesday (June 17) in the United Kingdom, showed NTU moving up two spots to be ranked 40th in the world — beating out other local institutions, such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) (42nd), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (107th).

    NTU, NUS and A*STAR are the only Singapore institutions in the top 200. NTU and NUS also beat other top universities such as Duke University (52nd) and  University College London (45).

    Last year, NTU published 371 scientific research articles, and the index tabulated that the university had a 6.7 per cent increase in high-quality research output as compared with the previous year.

    The top three institutions are the Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by Harvard University in the United States and the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

    The Nature Index, which is in its second year, tracks author affiliations of around 60,000 scientific articles published every year, spanning across 20,000 research institutions worldwide.

    The index also ranked research done according to different disciplines, and NTU was ranked ninth internationally for its chemistry research, followed by NUS at 28th place.

    For physical sciences research, NUS is at 27th and NTU at 35th spot.

    Responding to NTU’s showing in the index, NTU president Bertil Andersson said it “testifies to the high quality and impact of the work being done by (NTU’s) outstanding faculty and researchers”.

    A*STAR  chairman Lim Chuan Poh, noting the institution improvement in rankings, added that it will continue to collaborate with other industry partners in Singapore’s R&D landscape. A*STAR was ranked 133rd last year.

    NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan noted that the university’s position is “a strong recognition of the (NUS’) high-quality research and capabilities”.

    Among 100 countries ranked in the index, Singapore also went up by two places to 15th place. The top three countries are US, China and Germany.

    Publisher of Nature Index Richard Hughes said China is ranked highly given the country’s substantial investments in research. Mr Hughes also noted that northern and western European institutions tend to collaborate with other institutions in the same region, whereas researchers in the East and South-east Asia will partner with institutions in North America or Europe.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • NUS Retain Top Spot, NTU Moves Up To Fourth, In Asian University Rankings

    NUS Retain Top Spot, NTU Moves Up To Fourth, In Asian University Rankings

    The National University of Singapore (NUS) has maintained top spot in an annual ranking of Asian universities released on Wednesday morning, while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) moved up from the seventh to fourth place.

    London-based education and career consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), ranks Asia’s top 300 universities based on nine criteria including academic reputation, employer reputation, student-faculty ratio, papers per faculty and citations per paper.

    NTU has reached its highest ever position since the rankings were first compiled in 2009, after moving up three places in 2014.

    QS said NUS achieved the maximum score in the academic reputation indicator, based on more than 42,000 responses from academics from the region and around he world, while NTU achieved a nearly perfect score.

    Both universities also achieved the maximum score in the employer reputation indicator based on the opinion of almost 12,000 employers who took part in the survey.

    QS said although both universities had a low score in terms of the number of papers published, they scored highly when the impact of their research was measured by the number of citations per paper.

    NUS ranked third regionally for citations per paper while NTU was 12th.

    QS said the citation ranking reveals that the research output of the two universities “achieves a significant impact among the international scientific community and the world at large”.

    Mr Ben Sowter, QS head of research, said: “The leading Singaporean universities have an insatiable quest for excellence and an unwavering ambition, supported by a favourable environment which places education and innovation among the top priorities of the city-state’s agenda.

    “The historical analysis of the rankings shows that to maintain their position year on year, universities need to constantly improve. Hence, when they rise or if they stay firmly at the top of the table, it means that they are effectively progressing perceptibly faster than their peers.”

    Hong Kong University was placed second, followed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

    NUS president Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said: “We are very encouraged that the University is highly regarded and valued by employers and academics in Asia and the world.

    “This is a reflection of NUS’ distinctive education and broad-based research excellence, which are results of the strong contributions made by dedicated NUS faculty, staff and students.”

    NTU president, Professor Bertil Andersson said: “Singapore should be very proud to have two highly acclaimed universities among Asia’s top four.

    “This is a remarkable feat for this small country and especially meaningful that it has come during Singapore’s Golden Jubilee year.

    “It shows that Singapore’s continued investments in education and research are reaping good results.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Indonesian PhD Student Convicted For Outrage Of Modesty

    Indonesian PhD Student Convicted For Outrage Of Modesty

    An Indonesian PhD student was convicted on Tuesday of outraging a woman’s modesty on an MRT train.

    Irfan Syanjaya, 26, had been taking the train from Buona Vista to Jurong East on Aug 12 last year, when he deliberately stood close behind the 20-year-old student to do so.

    He was sentenced to six weeks’ jail following a two-day trial.

    The court heard that although the train was crowded at first as it was the evening peak period, it grew more empty after leaving Dover station. Nevertheless, Irfan continued to stand close to the victim even though there was space to move away.

    She confronted Irfan, who apologised. Other commuters came forward to help and he was detained by security officers at Jurong East MRT.

    During the trial, Irfan, who was unrepresented, maintained that he had touched the victim accidentally.

    He had admitted during police investigations earlier to intentionally touching her, but denied this in court.

    When asked why he kept standing so close to her, he said through a translator: “She seemed to have no negative thoughts about me so I did not move away.

    “I assumed she had no problem about me standing where I was.”

    Three witnesses who had been in the same carriage testified that they had seen Irfan make deliberate contact with the victim, even after she tried to avoid him.

    One, Ms Nur Sharida Md Farok, said Irfan was standing close enough to whisper into her ear.

    Another, Mr Johan Tay, said it was obvious that he had been inching towards the victim. He said he had tried to stop it from happening by putting his bag in between Irfan and the victim, but that Irfan had persisted.

    At the time, Irfan was doing a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the National University of Singapore.

    For using criminal force to outrage the victim’s modesty, Irfan could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com