As a condition of admission, students are required to:
- Expressly declare having read, understood, and agreed to abide by the following policies which form their Acceptance Record; and
- Complete and sign to the following Authorisation Requirements.
At all times, students are also responsible for understanding and complying with all other policies and procedures listed here which are applicable to them, established by the Senate and the University administration.
The University reserves the right to make any changes deemed necessary in the policies/requirements.
Acceptance Record
NUS takes responsibilities under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 seriously. We also recognize the importance of the personal data you have entrusted to us and believe that it is our responsibility to properly manage, protect and process your personal data. This policy is designed to assist you in understanding how we collect, use and/or disclose the personal data you have provided to us, as well as to assist you in making an informed decision before providing us with any of your personal data. If you, at any time, have any queries on this policy or any other queries in relation to how we may manage, protect and process your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@nus.edu.sg.
NUS students are expected to maintain and uphold the highest standards of integrity and honesty at all times, as well as embrace community standards, diversity and mutual respect for one another, both within the University and the wider Singapore community.
The Code of Student Conduct is intended to guide students' conduct in both the academic and non-academic aspects of their University life by providing an overview of the behavior generally expected of them as a member of the University community.
One of the fundamental principles on which this Code is based is that of "Academic, Professional, and Personal Integrity".
In this respect, it is important to note that all students share the responsibility for upholding the academic standards and reputation of the University. Academic honesty is a necessary condition in the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge, and the University expects each student to uphold academic honesty.
Academic dishonesty is any misrepresentation with the intent to deceive, or failure to acknowledge the source, or falsification of information, or inaccuracy of statements, or cheating at examinations/tests, or inappropriate use of resources. There are many forms of academic dishonesty and plagiarism is one of them. Plagiarism is generally defined as 'the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own' (The New Oxford Dictionary of English). The University does not condone plagiarism.
Students should adopt this rule - You have the obligation to make clear to the assessor which is your own work, and which is the work of others. Otherwise, your assessor is entitled to assume that everything being presented for assessment is being presented as entirely your own work. This is a minimum standard. In addition, the following guidelines will provide some assistance.
- When using the ideas, phrases, paragraphs and data of others in work presented for assessment, such materials should be appropriately credited and acknowledged, so that it is clear that the materials being presented is that of another person and not the student's own.
- The amount of detail required when referencing and acknowledging a source will vary according to the type of work and norms of the discipline. For instance,
- Supervised examinations will require less detail in referencing and acknowledgement.
- Papers written other than under examination conditions will require a full citation of all the sources utilised. While a particular style of citation is not prescribed, the citation should provide enough information for the reader to locate the sources cited.
- Research materials (including texts, graphics and data) obtained from the internet or other electronic resources should be treated in the same way as research materials obtained from traditional sources.
Any student found to have committed or aided and abetted the offence of plagiarism may be subject to disciplinary action. In addition, the student may receive a reduced grade (possibly even zero mark) for the relevant academic assignment, project, or thesis; and could receive a failed grade for the course. Any student caught plagiarising will be required to retain the plagiarised course as graded, and will not be allowed to exercise the S/U option for that course.
A student may not knowingly intend to plagiarise, but that should not be used as an excuse for plagiarism. Students should seek clarification from their instructors or thesis advisors if they are unsure whether or not they are plagiarising the work of another person. All students are also encouraged to:
- consult the resources compiled by the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL) on how to avoid plagiarism;
- use the service provided by the Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT) to help detect and prevent web-based plagiarism; and
- access online courses administered by the Office of Student Conduct
This policy applies to the use of the IT resources owned, controlled or managed by the University, such as computer accounts, personal computers, servers, workstations, disk storage, software, administrative and academic applications, email, public folders, newsgroups, online discussion forums, dialup, network, Internet and databases, among others. All users who have been granted access to the IT resources, including students of the University, are to comply with this policy. Please click here for the guidelines for the Acceptable Use Policy.
In addition to the provision of educational facilities at tertiary levels, the functions and objectives of the University include the promotion of research and scholarship and the advancement and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of all. Consistent with its status as a publicly funded organisation, it is critical that the University ensures that the creation, dissemination and commercialisation of Intellectual Property is properly administered for the benefit of the public and the University. This Policy shall therefore apply to all Intellectual Property developed or created by a University member, including students, in the course of University research. The Industry Liaison Office manages all such issues.
The University must comply with the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) and the Do Not Call (DNC) regime/framework. The PDPA aims to protect individuals' personal data against misuse, while promoting proper management of personal data in organizations. The PDPA requires that organizations collecting, using and disclosing personal data notify their consumers of the purposes of such data activities and seek the consent of these individuals. Personal data is defined as data about an individual who can be identified from that data. The DNC Registry will allow individuals with Singapore telephone numbers to opt out of unsolicited marketing calls, messages and faxes.
NUS must fully comply with the PDPA. To this end, NUS has developed a DNC Policy with our legal consultants to ensure compliance from our community.
All NUS students are required to acknowledge and agree to comply with the terms stated in the NUS Student Confidentiality Agreement. Students should keep absolutely confidential any Confidential Information, whether belonging to the University or other third parties be it in writing or verbally in the course of their studies, internships, attachments and/or student life at the University.
Unless express written permission has been given by the relevant authority at the University or the third party that owns or otherwise is in control of the Confidential Information, students should not discuss, release, retain, copy or remove any document or data in any format.
Students found to have made unauthorised release of Confidential Information may be subject to immediate termination of their attachment, internship, assistantship, departmental work (paid or unpaid), or such other disciplinary action as the University may deem appropriate.
All NUS students are required to read and accept the NUS Software Terms of Use before downloading, installing, accessing and/or using any information technology resources.
Authorisation Requirements
Risk Acknowledgement and Consent
In the course of their studies, students may participate in activities (whether local or overseas) organised or endorsed by the University as part of their programme or as part of co-curricular activities or courses offered by the University. Students may also be accommodated in the University's hostels or may use the University's sports, recreation and other facilities. All students are required to agree to the terms prescribed by the University in connection with such participation and use.
Authorisation of Medical Procedures
Appointment of Local Representative for International Students (for International Students only)
In the course of their studies in NUS, international students may need medical attention in the form of surgery or any other medical procedures or treatment, but may be unable to give or refuse consent to the same. In such an event, surgeons or consultants in hospitals in Singapore would require a local representative to be present at the hospital to authorise or refuse consent for the surgery or other medical procedure or treatment on the patient's behalf.
In order to avoid possible delays to any surgery or other medical procedure or treatment that an international student may need, international students, or their parent/guardian (where the international student is under 18 years of age) may do either or both of the following:
- appoint a representative in Singapore who is at least 18 years of age ('Local Representative') who will have the authority to authorise or refuse consent for the surgery or other medical procedure or treatment, on behalf of the student/parent/guardian, as applicable; and /or
- authorise NUS, its officers, staff member to authorise or refuse consent for the surgery or medical procedure or treatment, on behalf of the student/parent/guardian, if none of the student's parent/guardian/a Local Representative (if any) is contactable at the time of need