Are research careers in Singapore still attractive to top-tier talent?
Sustained research investment can produce incredible value for the wider economy. The task is to ensure researchers can build lasting careers across all sectors, not just research.
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Ministry of Education figures show university enrolment in engineering sciences dropped from 42.9 per cent in 2003 to 22.2 per cent in 2023.
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
Wen Yonggang
When my research team at Nanyang Technological University developed an artificial intelligence system to optimise data centre energy use, it led to a deep-tech spin-off that slashed power consumption across major Asian data centre operations by up to 30 per cent. That is the ideal outcome of public research and development investment. But behind every success story lies a quiet crisis: Too few young Singaporeans see a viable, long-term career in doing the science that makes such breakthroughs possible.
Singapore’s $37 billion commitment to the next five-year tranche of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise fund from 2026 to 2030 (RIE2030) signals an unwavering faith in research and enterprise. Business R&D spending surged to $9 billion in 2023 from $5.5 billion in 2018, and industry research jobs grew by a third over these years. Singapore’s research is also cited 77 per cent more than the global average.
