Degrees of Freedom
For a growing number of NUS graduates, the ideal career no longer fits neatly into a job description. Instead, they are navigating a wider set of choices—between stability and flexibility, security and experimentation—redefining what success looks like on their own terms.
Good Medicine: Leading With Trust and Heart
Dr Tan Hiang Khoon (Medicine ’91, EMBA ’22) rose from humble beginnings to lead the globally top-ranked Singapore General Hospital, but the innovator still credits success to his family, his team and the trust of those around him.
From Cancer Drugs to Hair Dyes
From powerful drugs to everyday products, Professor Giorgia Pastorin’s work is driven by a single question: how can we control what molecules do in the human body and how can we make them work better for us?
From an Early Setback in Mathematics to New Frontiers
How the AI journey of Dr Thang Luong (Computing ‘09) came full circle
Thriving Quietly: How Introverted Women Can Succeed
In many workplaces, success seems to favour those who speak the loudest. But according to introvert coach and former lawyer Ms Serena Low (Law ’93), quiet strength—when understood and used well—can be just as powerful. In honour of International Women’s Day, she shares practical advice for introverted women navigating career growth, transitions and new cultural environments.
NUS: Reprogrammed for Tomorrow
In just three years since the launch of ChatGPT, NUS has launched ambitious programmes to nurture AI-fluent students and use AI effectively in teaching, research and corporate functions.
Inside Cancer’s Neighbourhoods: Pushing the Next Frontier in Research
Why does the same treatment work for some patients with triple-negative breast cancer but not others? Dr Clinton Yam (Medicine ’08) spent more than a decade pursuing that question, leading team science and capitalising on advanced technologies to produce the most detailed map yet of this complex cancer.
What AI Can’t Do
Mr Xue Wen Tan (Engineering ‘19, PhD ‘25) became an AI scientist after graduating from NUS’ inaugural Digital Financial Technology PhD programme. But as his immersion in AI deepened, he began to think more about what AI should — and should not — replace.
The Voice That Went Viral
A decade after joining her family’s Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, Ms Zara Salahuddin (Design and Environment ’13) found her own way of telling Bismillah Biryani’s story — one that reached new audiences, earned her father’s quiet respect and gave the heritage brand a fresh voice.
Delayed, More Deliberate, and Less Fertile
Singaporeans aren’t marrying less — they’re marrying later and more deliberately, treating both marriage and parenthood as life projects rather than default milestones.
Chasing the Ephemeral: Keeping Chinese Puppetry in Motion
From temple festivals to late-night fieldwork across the region, Dr Caroline Chia (Arts & Social Sciences ’06) has spent nearly two decades chasing the stories, people and practices behind traditional Chinese puppetry.
Friends First, Founders Next
For nearly 15 years, Mr Mustaffa Kamal (Arts & Social Sciences ’08) and Mr Calvin Seah (Business ’08) have built businesses together, but the partnership they forged long before The Black Hole Group may prove to be their most enduring creation.