Message from President Tony Tan

2011 President’s Science And Technology Awards

I congratulate the winners of this year’s President’s Science & Technology Awards (PSTA) for their distinguished achievements and outstanding contributions to scientific research and development. This year’s PSTA is particularly significant as 2011 marks 20 years of Science and Technology planning and development in Singapore.

This year’s winners are exceptional scientists who have tirelessly devoted themselves to research in areas such as cancer, stem cells, healthcare, computer engineering, biomedical sciences, and have made breakthrough discoveries. Some have taken their discoveries further into applications with healthcare impact or economic benefits to Singapore.

Professor Soo Kee Chee – the winner of this year’s President Science & Technology Medal - is one such example. As the founding Director of the National Cancer Centre of Singapore (NCCS), Professor Soo nurtured the fledgling NCCS from a small department in Singapore General Hospital to a healthcare institution that is recognised internationally. He also strongly supported the integration of translational and clinical research with clinical delivery in our public healthcare sector to achieve meaningful outcomes in cancer treatments. Singapore is now an international R&D hub for cancer research because of contributions by clinician scientists such as Professor Soo.

Singapore needs even more capable and committed scientists to deliver excellent and impactful research. This is part of our effort to transform Singapore into a knowledge-based innovation-driven economy, and to remain globally competitive. Singapore remains committed to sustaining our investments in R&D to create an environment to attract both local and international scientific talent to be part of our growing research community.

Finally, I would like to encourage all research scientists in Singapore to persevere as they strive towards excellence in their scientific research. Working together as one collaborative community, I am confident Singapore can become Asia’s Innovation Capital.

Tony Tan
President
Republic of Singapore