Leveraging on the successful on-going collaborative research efforts between NERI and Shanghai Jiaotong University under the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Solutions for Megacities (E2S2) NRF CREATE Programme, the Centre is a gateway for NUS to extend its research capabilities beyond the shores of Singapore to address some of these challenging environment and water issues in China.

Launched in late 2015, the Centre will serve as a technology transfer platform for technologies developed in Singapore to be transferred to China for translational research development, testing bedding, and commercialization activities with Chinese government agencies and industries. Thus bringing closer the collaborations between the two countries.

Research Scope

Wastewater Management. Research will focus on wastewater discharge and how it could be reduced and reused as well as how the discharge may affect the water quality of the catchment. The team will work closely with the local authorities and universities and institutes in China to explore and develop innovative technologies to improve water quality.

Environmental Monitoring. Algal bloom is a global concern. Due to the rapid economic growth and human activities, lakes, ponds and reservoirs in Yangtze region are faced serious eutrophication issues, leading to algal blooms almost on an annual basis. These blooms are also of public health impacts, as many algae produce highly toxic compounds. We are particularly interested in developing technologies for their early prevention and detection of algal blooms or algal toxins.

Water Recycling and Treatment for Pharmaceutical or Personal Care Products. There are many hundreds of factories in the Yangtze delta manufacturing pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and many of these products and their metabolites are endocrine disruptors that are persistent in the environment. The Centre is interested to further build up its capabilities, in both the detection and treatment of some of these contaminants.

We welcome interested academia, industries and government agencies to partner us in this initiative to achieve our vision of developing world-class environmental research capabilities beyond Singapore.