SEC's collaborations for success

Fourteen years ago, the then-chairman of the National Research Foundation, Dr Tony Tan visited the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

During the visit, the idea to set up a research centre in Singapore was discussed. The institution has had a long-standing relationship with Singapore, dating back to 1996, and Singapore seemed like a natural choice for the university’s first and only research centre ouside Switzerland.

In 2010, the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) was established as one of the centres under the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE). The SEC was not alone, having been preceded by the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), and joined by other excellent universities in the years to come.

In the past 10 years, the spirit of collaboration has continued to bear fruit. In addition to collaborating with other CREATE entities, the SEC has also worked with government agencies, and industry on projects such as Cooling Singapore, Cities Knowledge Graph, and Digital Underground, that aim to inform the planning of Singapore both above and below ground and to make the city more sustainable, resilient and liveable.

All around the world, successful scientific collaborations have spurred scientific progress and innovation for the betterment of societies. Tackling complex social, environmental and economic challenges, such as climate change and urban resilience, increasingly requires collaboration between universities, governments and industry.

The question is: What are the key ingredients for successful collaborations?

Shared interest and values

Singapore’s collaboration with ETH Zurich was seeded by a mutual interest in learning from each other and complementing existing capabilities. ETH Zurich was also keen on context-based research that could not be done in Switzerland for climatic or geographic reasons, and that would benefit both partners and science in general.

Another pre-requisite for a successful collaboration is shared values. The SEC is first and foremost a research centre, and researchers are intrinsically driven by an interest in investigating a topic in-depth and publish their findings to share them with the academic community and beyond. But in addition to academic interests, the SEC believes in translating knowledge to action.

This has existed in the university’s DNA since its founding in 1855. ETH Zurich believes not just in teaching and research, but also in sharing knowledge with, and serving society. It is interested in formulating relevant questions, tackling urgent challenges, and creating a real impact on society. This has led us to work closely with agency and industry partners, and we have found that engaging with real-world problems experienced by stakeholders often leads to new and meaningful questions for science.

Trust

Going into unchartered territory is always risky. In such context, trust is an essential ingredient – the glue that keeps partners together. Whenthe SEC was first set up, the Future Cities Laboratory – our first programme – had to start conversations and establish trust between partners. One of the programme’s first collaborative projects was with the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Land Transport Authority, to model land transport in Singapore using diverse data streams with the agent-based simulation tool, MatSIM. The trust built through this first project was the foundation upon which later projects were developed.

Another dimension of trust pertains to the sharing of data and resources, including the issue of data privacy – something that is particularly important when working with government agencies. Apart from non-disclosure clauses, our researchers have developed creative ways of ensuring data privacy, such as by building synthetic populations representative of the actual population. This method guarantees the robustness of the research, while preserving the privacy of the population.

Furthering communication

Communication is crucial in every partnership, whether in setting realistic goals and expectations or deciding on future intellectual property and publication authorship. Yet different disciplinary backgrounds, technical expertise, professional interests, and perspectives often get in the
way. Therefore, in addition to regular and open communication, creative communication is also important.

In research, communication is typically done through scientific publications, conference presentations, and posters. In addition, our researchers look towards innovative and impactful ways to convey ideas and findings. For instance, by translating data-rich results into interactive information maps, videos and other visual outputs, we have been able to visualise the state of the Urban Heat Island effect in Singapore, map urban vegetation, as well as model energy consumption of buildings and districts.

Keeping collaborations strong

Ten years on, the partnership between ETH Zurich and Singapore has only deepened through new programmes and projects. A combination of communication, mutual trust and respect are critical ingredients that give researchers the degrees of freedom to follow the path that their research takes them.

The Digital Underground project, in partnership with the Singapore Land Authority since 2017, is still going strong. In 2018, NParks researchers collaborated with us in our Natural Capital Singapore project, demonstrating our joint commitment and interest in preserving Singapore’s ecosystems. We are also working with the National Healthcare Group, SingHealth, and the National University Health System to ensure that the technologies developed under our Future Health Technologies programme are applicable to Singapore and can be rolled out in hospitals here.

Both Switzerland and Singapore recognise the importance of conducting research to benefit the wider society. As a result, the SEC is also looking beyond Singapore to improve urban resilience and design in the fast-growing cities in the Southeast Asian region.