Construction of CREATE begins

29 Jul 2009

The construction phase of the Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) facility was launched by National Research Foundation (NRF) Chairman Dr Tony Tan, Deputy Prime Minister Mr Teo Chee Hean, who is also the newly-appointed Deputy NRF Chairman, and advisor to NRF and Chairman of the CREATE Master Planning and Development Committee Prof Lui Pao Chuen.

Slated to be completed by July 2011, CREATE will be located at NUS' University Town. The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology or the SMART Centre, which is housed temporarily at NUS, is the first research centre in CREATE. The SMART centre currently has three interdisciplinary research groups - infectious diseases, Centre for Environmental Sensing & Modelling and Biosystems & Micromechanics.

Dr Tan said: "Today's event underscores the importance the Government places on the need for continuing investments in R&D, to develop capabilities that will keep our economy competitive in the long term. He noted that he look forward to "seeing research breakthroughs and disruptive innovations come out of CREATE that will have great economic and societal impact."

First approved in 2006 by the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, CREATE seeks to be a world-class research facility. CREATE will house research centres to carry out cutting-edge research in line with Singapore's strategic interest and those of the research institutions.

On the inter-disciplinary research which CREATE plans to undertake, Dr Tan noted: "We believe that research which involves scientists from different disciplines coming together to solve a major challenge often offers the highest probability for breakthroughs to occur."

A total of S$360 million was set aside for the design and construction of the CREATE campus which is expected to be home to 1,000 researchers.