The agreement was signed in a ceremony attended by the British deputy High Commissioner to Singapore, Alexandra McKenzie.

“The educational links between Singapore and the United Kingdom as long and deep”

The future collaboration between the two institutions will include funding through A*STAR’s research attachment program, which will allow PhD students to conduct their research both in the UK and Singapore.

The main areas of focus for joint between Queen Mary and A*STAR will be medicine, health, science and engineering, with a view to foster mobility between the two institutions and ultimately increase research collaboration between the two countries.

“Through the joint supervision of undergraduates and graduates in physical, biomedical and engineering sciences, the partnership paves the way for talent mobility between both institutions,” Ng Huck Hui of A*STAR said.

“A*STAR looks forward to deepening its partnership in research and talent cultivation with the United Kingdom to further drive growth and deliver impact that will benefit both countries.”

The program will start with a group of six co-funded PhD students expected to join Queen Mary in 2019, who will then spend at least a year in Singapore from 2020.

Colin Grant, VP (international) at Queen Mary said the collaboration will fulfil one of the central themes of Queen Mary’s new ‘Global Engagement Strategy’.

“A*STAR bridges the gap between academia and industry, which is a central theme of Queen Mary’s new Global Engagement Strategy. By increasing mobility for young researchers, we will nurture the innovation leaders of tomorrow,” he said.

Queen Mary, Grant added, has been actively forging partnerships in Singapore, with agreements with NTU and NUS.

“The educational links between Singapore and the United Kingdom are long and deep,” High Commissioner Scott Wightman said, commenting on the partnership.

In July, he announced that the UK was “about to see a step-change in the scale” of its partnerships with Singapore, noting that over half of the Singaporean executive’s cabinet studied at Britain’s top universities, and more than 7,000 Singaporeans study in Britain each year.