Singapore-MIT research center serves as model or innovative collaboration
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Singapore-MIT research center serves as model for innovative collaboration http://smart.mit.edu
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ostering basic research that leads to commercial activity is a goal shared by the government of Singapore and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This common purpose, among others, is the foundation of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Center, a collaborative research center established in 2007 that is engaging in cutting-edge research on topics of global importance, such as energy consumption and infectious diseases. The SMART Center is predominantly funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF), a government agency established in 2006 under the Prime Minister’s Office to transform Singapore into a hub of science and technology activity. The center is the first to be established under a novel NRF program to build world-class research centers in Singapore, called CREATE. The Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) will eventually consist of several research centers, each led by an international research university or corporation. CREATE will be a focal point for collaboration and innovation, with a campus located near the National University of Singapore. The centers will work directly with universities and laboratories in Singapore, attracting leading researchers and encouraging innovation and technology transfer. Other CREATE entities in various stages of operation involve the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology—Zurich, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of California— Berkeley, Ben-Gurion University, and the Technical University of Munich. In the last several years Singapore has increased its investment in research and development (R&D) significantly,
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VOLUME 36 • NOVEMBER 2011
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the logistics of more than 9000 miles and a 12–13 hour time difference can be challenging. The SMART Center is composed of five interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs): biosystems and micromechanics, environmental sensing and modeling, infectious diseases, future urban mobility, and the newest IRG, low-energy electronic systems. IRGs are formed through an open call to all MIT faculty members for proposals that address problems of societal importance, are in a research area of interest to Singapore, and are difficult to study in Cambridge. The proposals are reviewed by MIT, and one is eventually selected as MIT’s choice for the next IRG. MIT then submits this proposal to the NRF. The proposal is further reviewed by the NRF, and if the NRF
from 1.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1990 to around 3% in 2010, and has set a goal of investing 3.5% of GDP in R&D by 2015. Singapore has introduced new tax deductions and other programs to encourage public and private investments in R&D and to attract new talent to the country. Singapore is a knowledge economy, and investing in international research centers like SMART is considered an investment in its future. “Singapore has recogn
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