<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>R & D: 'I can only lament the dismal level of our achievements compared to other countries.'
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PROFESSOR Michael Heng's letter on Tuesday, 'Need to focus R&D spending for top impact', could not have come at a better time.
As a former science and engineering student, I can only lament the dismal level of our R&D achievements compared to other countries.
The formulaic recipe is to import foreign talent to jump-start the learning curve, build infrastructure and entice Singapore youth to study such courses, while hoping that this would succeed. Yet most of Singapore's research continues to be trivial adaptations of existing products to suit local markets, rather than cutting-edge breakthrough innovations that could be top contenders for the coveted Nobel Prizes.
Prof Heng also suggested a more rigorous means to authenticate research paper authorship. I could not agree more. Some of the PhD students I have observed in the laboratory are there to get the academic paper glory rather than discover new knowledge itself. For local talent to compete with foreign talent, local talent gets the short end of the stick. Many universities from China give their students either a pass or fail grade, rather than an A, B or C. It is easier for foreign talent from China to do a postgraduate programme in Singapore due to this unfair advantage.
There is also a lack of monetary incentives to motivate a junior researcher. For example, a basic degree holder in life sciences research may earn as little as $1,900 a month. Even a PhD does not guarantee a job in life sciences research sector, except A*Star scholars who have to serve out their bond. Research jobs in Singapore are short-lived careers. For research laboratories, it depends on whether there is enough grant to continue a particular project. Every junior researcher is hired on a contract basis due to the short-lived nature of a research grant for that particular project.
Last but not least, there is a lack of flexibility for researchers to toy with other ideas. Each researcher is supposed to stick to his line of work. As a research student, I was chastised by my supervisor for wasting money on another small project that was not exactly relevant to the main area of focus.
If each of us had this mentality that everyone should mind his own turf, penicillin would not have been discovered 100 years ago. The researcher who discovered penicillin investigated the mould of fungus that growing on a media culture. Had his supervisor reprimanded him, he would have thrown it away and penicillin would not be antibiotics today. Edmund Lin
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PROFESSOR Michael Heng's letter on Tuesday, 'Need to focus R&D spending for top impact', could not have come at a better time.
As a former science and engineering student, I can only lament the dismal level of our R&D achievements compared to other countries.
The formulaic recipe is to import foreign talent to jump-start the learning curve, build infrastructure and entice Singapore youth to study such courses, while hoping that this would succeed. Yet most of Singapore's research continues to be trivial adaptations of existing products to suit local markets, rather than cutting-edge breakthrough innovations that could be top contenders for the coveted Nobel Prizes.
Prof Heng also suggested a more rigorous means to authenticate research paper authorship. I could not agree more. Some of the PhD students I have observed in the laboratory are there to get the academic paper glory rather than discover new knowledge itself. For local talent to compete with foreign talent, local talent gets the short end of the stick. Many universities from China give their students either a pass or fail grade, rather than an A, B or C. It is easier for foreign talent from China to do a postgraduate programme in Singapore due to this unfair advantage.
There is also a lack of monetary incentives to motivate a junior researcher. For example, a basic degree holder in life sciences research may earn as little as $1,900 a month. Even a PhD does not guarantee a job in life sciences research sector, except A*Star scholars who have to serve out their bond. Research jobs in Singapore are short-lived careers. For research laboratories, it depends on whether there is enough grant to continue a particular project. Every junior researcher is hired on a contract basis due to the short-lived nature of a research grant for that particular project.
Last but not least, there is a lack of flexibility for researchers to toy with other ideas. Each researcher is supposed to stick to his line of work. As a research student, I was chastised by my supervisor for wasting money on another small project that was not exactly relevant to the main area of focus.
If each of us had this mentality that everyone should mind his own turf, penicillin would not have been discovered 100 years ago. The researcher who discovered penicillin investigated the mould of fungus that growing on a media culture. Had his supervisor reprimanded him, he would have thrown it away and penicillin would not be antibiotics today. Edmund Lin
