Director's Message

The mission of the NTU URECA programme is to nurture our outstanding undergraduates into the next generation of researchers.  The URECA opportunity is offered to outstanding students in years 2 or 3 of study and we aim to empower students, helping them to recognise their potential through research projects that make real world change. For many students URECA provides an entry path to a research career and we aim to ignite a passion for research by facilitating research projects, hosted in NTU’s world-class research ecosystem and conducted under the excellent mentorship of the NTU faculty and research staff.

At URECA we value innovation, ambition, collaboration and inclusiveness and since its inception in 2004, more than 10000 students have discovered and developed their passion for research on the URECA journey. I note that around one-third of our students pursue post-graduate studies in NTU and elsewhere, demonstrating that URECA is meeting its key aim of recruiting, training and equipping the next generation of research talent.

Throughout the year, URECA students get the opportunity to take part in several key events. Firstly, the annual poster exhibition provides students with a stage to exhibit and present their research to the rest of NTU.  Then, our students in Singapore are encouraged to participate in the International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR), and present their research alongside students from many reputable universities across the USA, Canada, UK, Japan and Australia. Many will also be asked to submit their research to the Global Undergraduate Award (UA) a world leading programme which allows students to share their work with a global audience and connects students across cultures and disciplines. Many of our students have won prestigious awards here in the past, and we hope to continue this tradition. Publishing and presenting is also key to academic research and it is great to see that every year URECA students publish in journals of international repute and present their research at top international conferences in their chosen field.

Integral to the success of URECA is the collaborations with Corporate Laboratories and partners and with Research Institutes and Centres at NTU. The URECA collaboration network allows undergraduates to apply their theoretical knowledge to actual research projects and a chance to work in challenging research environments with industrial relevance.

We are always heartened by our undergraduates' enthusiastic response to the URECA program. The enthusiasm is no doubt a tribute to all the faculty who have supervised and mentored URECA students in the past. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the URECA students and faculty for the excellent work they have done. The URECA team thank all our partners and contributors for their support and we look forward to enriching the URECA program further.

I warmly welcome you to the URECA community and wish you an enriching research journey ahead.

Professor Adam D. Switzer
Director, Undergraduate Research Experience on CAmpus Programme 

Assoc Prof Appa Iyer Sivakumar

Director (2005 – 2021)
URECA Programme

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering