Nanyang Technological University (NTU) yesterday received a $9 million gift to help establish a new post-doctoral fellowship programme that will span six years.

The gift is from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the largest private financier of research in Sweden. It supports Swedish research and education, mainly in medicine, technology and the natural sciences.

Under the fellowship programme, promising post-doctoral candidates from Sweden will be able to carry out their research at NTU starting next year.

Over the next six years, 40 fellows will be appointed. Each appointment will last two years.

Fellows who decide to return to a Swedish university after the two-year period may receive further funding from the foundation, while those who stay on may receive support - including funding and lab resources - from NTU.

NTU president Subra Suresh said the partnership would "leverage the strengths of NTU and Swedish universities to nurture talent and build intellectual capacity in many disciplines".