Em Prof Ulrich Suter named Singapore's honarary citizen

Yesterday (Aug 14), Emiritus Professor Ulrich Werner Suter was conferred the Honorary Citizen Award of Singapore by the President of Singapore, Mr Tony Tan, at a ceremony held at the Istana. This was in recognition of Prof Suter's contributions to developing Singapore into a vibrant and globally-recognized R&D hub. The award is the highest form of recognition from the Singapore Government for outstanding contributions by individuals to the country's growth and development.

For over a decade, Prof Suter has made longstanding and valuable contributions to Singapore's research landscape. In 2004, he served on an international panel commissioned by the Ministry of Education to study the establishment of a research-intensive science and technology institution in Singapore. The panel's recommendations played a pivotal role in seeding the establishment of the NRF in 2006.

Prof Suter went on to serve as Co-Chairman of the NRF Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) from 2006 to 2011. He was instrumental in conceptualising the Research Centres of Excellence to spur research in areas of long-term strategic benefit to Singapore. Today, the five Research Centres of Excellence, which have become part of the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, are globally recognised for leading research in quantum technology, cancer science, earth science, mechanobiology and environmental life sciences.

Under Professor Suter’s guidance, the NRF SAB also provided valuable advice on the development of the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) to attract highly-regarded R&D institutions from all over the world to conduct research in Singapore. Through CREATE, institutions including ETH have established centres such as the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) and grown a strong institutional presence in Singapore. Professor Suter also led the NRF SAB to evaluate the first group of researchers who were to be awarded the inaugural NRF Research Fellowship.

Currently the Chairman of the NRF Competitive Research Programme (CRP) International Evaluation Panel, Prof Suter leads a panel of international scientific experts that evaluate the relevance, impact and excellence of use-inspired R&D proposals submitted by our researchers, and recommend whether Singapore should invest in R&D in the areas proposed. The panel also reviews the scientific progress of ongoing projects and provided advice to pro-actively shape the outcomes of the projects. The active management of CRP projects has enabled the seeding of several national-level initiatives in emerging technology areas that could create value for Singapore, such as in synthetic biology, spintronics and photonics.

Professor Suter has also been Advisor to NRF since 2012, where he plays a key role in advising NRF on Singapore’s R&D strategy. This included the formulation of Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan, to devise strategies for our R&D investments to be translated into economic growth for Singapore and better lives for Singaporeans. He has also actively persuaded prominent Singaporean scientists based overseas to relocate their research to Singapore and return home under NRF’s Returning Singaporean Scientists Scheme.

An expert in materials science, Professor Suter also contributes as a member of the Governing Board of the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, which looks to deepen capabilities in novel printing processes for different manufacturing sectors, such as in aerospace, building and marine industries.

On being conferred the Honorary Citizen Award, Professor Suter said: “I am moved and honoured to receive this prestigious award from Singapore. I am grateful for the opportunity to play a modest role in Singapore’s transformation into a vibrant R&D hub with its world-class research infrastructure and talent. I am excited by the many new possibilities that Singapore can pursue with the strong R&D capabilities it has so vigorously built up over the years.”