LEARN News and Events

Upcoming Events
Please follow our LinkedIn group for the latest updates of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine early career researcher (LEARN) community via https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13918082/. We want to unite young scientists and put forward vibrant ideas, standards, and values to spark next generation discoveries in science, medicine and research. We strongly encourage you to reach out and stay connected with us. Get the first hand information about our events, networking opportunities, career and professional development, exciting news and etc. Post-doctoral researchers, research associates and assistants as well as graduate students are welcome to join this group.
When you request to join, please ensure your LKCMedicine affiliation is listed on your profile for verification. You can also reach us via email (LKC-LEARN@ntu.edu.sg).
Past Events

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) Happy Hour had a blast at the Clinical Sciences Building on 25 Nov 2022. It brought together over 40 colleagues and guests from NUS Postdoctoral Association (PDA) to relax and interact. The researchers enjoyed celebrating the Friday night and sharing our experiences and struggles as early career researchers in a cozy setting. This event also featured board games with many researchers playing and laughing along with their friends. We are happy that LEARN events act as a platform for interaction amongst researchers from LKC to create deeper bonds in the community.
Do look out for the last Happy Hour of 2022 on 29th December at EMB, level 3. See you there!

On 23 November 2022, research fellows Dr Wee Soon Keong, Dr Fang Yang and Dr Ekaterina Sviriaeva, represented LKCMedicine EArly Researchers’ Network (LEARN) to participate in Postdoctoral Level UP event organised by NUS Medicine Postdoctoral Association (PDA) at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine MD4 building. Aside from networking with counterparts from NUS and learning more about their initiatives over food and games, both committees explored ideas on how to better serve and support the early career researchers community. The LEARN team is looking forward to hosting NUS PDA team during the upcoming LEARN events as well as the many opportunities to collaborate and grow together.

The LKCMedicine EArly Researchers’ Network (LEARN) committee is thrilled to announce that LKCMedicine has been selected as the inaugural host for the first FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE Conference outside of Europe in 2024. ENABLE (EuropeanAcademy for Biomedical Science) is a unique initiative to support early researchers that was funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme that took off in Barcelona 2017. From 2022 onwards, it is sustained by funding from the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). Two of our committee members, Dr Chew Bing Liang Alvin (President, LEARN) and Dr Madhuvanthi Chandrakanthan (Co-Chair of Professional development, LEARN), attended this year’s conference held at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, Spain between 16-18 November 2022. This meeting paved the way to meet the ENABLE coordinators.
Group Photo featuring: (back row, left to right) Dr. Francesca Fiore, Coordinator SEMM IT; Prof. Irene Díaz-Moreno, Chair of the FEBS Working Group on the Careers of Young Scientists, University of Seville – CSIC; Dr Isabell Witt, Scientific Coordinator, University of Cologne; Dr Alvin Chew, Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow at LKCMedicine; (front row, left to right) Dr. Clasien Oomen, Policy Advisor Research, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Leyre Caracuel, Academic Office Coordinator, IRB Barcelona; Alba Echarte, Academic Officer, IRB Barcelona; Dr. Madhuvanthi Chandrakanthan, Research Fellow, LKCMedicine; Dr. Moreno Papetti, Programme Coordinator, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Prof. Jerka Dumić, FEBS Executive Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Croatia.


On 2 November, LKCMedicine EArly Researchers’ Network (LEARN) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) jointly organised a panel discussion and networking session titled, “Connecting Science and Business to Develop Bilingual Leaders" at the HQ Seminar Room. Nearly 40 young researchers, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, as well as representatives from over 15 companies (MNCs, SMEs and start-ups) attended the discussion moderated by Ms Lisa Liaw (Council Member, SBF). The panellists include Dr Zhou Lihan (Co-Founder and CEO, MiRXES Pte Ltd), Dr Ronne Yeo (Co-Founder, Managing Director and CSO, Carcell Biopharma; Managing Director, EVX Ventures) and Mr Nilesh Wadhwa (Director, New Ventures & Transaction and Early Innovation Partner for Singapore, India and SEA, Johnson & Johnson). The participants had an insightful exchange with the industry leaders on their thoughts and experiences on leading and navigating through the biotech R&D and innovation space in Singapore and beyond.

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN)and Graduate Student Club (GSC) hosted a joint Happy Hour event ‘Hallo LKC’ in lieu of Halloween at the Experimental Medicine Building (EMB) on Oct 28th, 2022. It brought together over 50 attendees which includes guests from other schools (SBS, SPMS, SPC, MAE, NIE, SCBE and NISB), and some faculty members of LKCMedicine to relax and interact. ‘Hallo LKC’ event featured many new activities:
- ‘Researchers’ Interactome’ Whiteboard: A new feature introduced to the Happy Hour was ‘interactome white board’ - a way where researchers ask questions or share their problems, sparking novel ideas and may search collaborators. Do look out for more Interactomes in the future Happy Hours!
- Board games: Many participants were seen playing these games and interacting with fellow researchers. We hope that the attendees thoroughly enjoyed themselves during the games!
- Dress up for Halloween: Many people were seen wearing thematic dresses to celebrate Halloween. LEARN and GSC have come together to give a small token of appreciation to people wearing the best costumes:
Best dressed prize winner: Prof Wang Yulan as Zombie apocalypse survivor
Eye catcher prize winner: A group of three LKC young researchers, Bei Shi Lee, Carmen Pee and Ekaterina Sviriaeva, dressed as the Minions
- Professional photography session for the current and potential LEARN (sub)committee members: We thank you for your interest and the recruitment is still a work in progress. Do keep looking out on social media and email notifications from LEARN for new happenings and updates.
The next cozy Happy Hour which will be held on 25th Nov 2022, 4.30 - 6.30 pm at CSB Level 20 Flexi Space, see you there!

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) held another Happy Hour on September 23rd, this time at FlexiSpace at the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB). This cozy event brought together over 40 staff and students from LKCMedicine, including Asst Prof Kazuyuki Kasahara and colleagues from Experimental Medicine Building (EMB), to relax and interact over a drink and some snacks. In addition, the President and the Secretary from the NUSMed Postdoctoral Association (PDA) Committee have joined us to share their experience and discuss the postdoctoral career and future opportunities for collaboration between NUSMed PDA and LEARN. Please look out for our future events, including the next Happy Hour which will happen at EMB, level 3, on 28th October. See you soon!

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) continued its tradition of Happy Hour at the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB) on 22nd July 2022. We thank Faculty members (Assoc. Prof. Tan Nguan Soon Andrew, Vice-Dean of Faculty Affairs, Nanyang Asst Prof Yasunori Saheki), and over 30 research colleagues and Ph.D. students from various departments of CSB (Family medicine, Medical Education, Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS)) and EMB, for joining our cozy networking event. Your feedback and support is deeply appreciated to strengthen our research community!
Do look out for the next happy hour which will be held alternately between EMB and the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB). The next one is on 26 Aug 2022, 4.30 - 6.30 pm at EMB, level 03, see you there!

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) continued its tradition of Happy Hour at the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB) on 22nd July 2022. We thank Faculty members (Assoc. Prof. Tan Nguan Soon Andrew, Vice-Dean of Faculty Affairs, Nanyang Asst Prof Yasunori Saheki), and over 30 research colleagues and Ph.D. students from various departments of CSB (Family medicine, Medical Education, Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS)) and EMB, for joining our cozy networking event. Your feedback and support is deeply appreciated to strengthen our research community!
Do look out for the next happy hour which will be held alternately between EMB and the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB). The next one is on 26 Aug 2022, 4.30 - 6.30 pm at EMB, level 03, see you there!

LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) restarted the tradition of Happy Hour at the Experimental Medicine Building (EMB) on 24 June 2022. It brought together over 40 colleagues and guests from other schools (SBS, Research Techno Plaza, SPC, SCELSE, SCBE and NITSH) to relax and interact. The event also saw the attendance of Prof. Joseph Sung, LKCMedicine Dean, Prof. Lim Kah Leong, Vice-Dean (Research), Prof. Wang Yulan, Director of Singapore Phenome Centre, and Assoc. Prof. Luo Dahai who has been newly elected to the NTU 8th Senate. We thank them for their strong commitment towards early career researchers’ affairs, engaging with us, and promoting the idea of socializing during informal gathering as the time when the best research ideas can emerge. This event, also served as an occasion to announce the 2nd LEARN Grant call. All research fellows are encouraged to submit their letter of intent by Jul 15 via the following Forms and refer to the “LEARN 2022 Grant Call” email for more details.
Do look out for the next cozy little happy hour which will be held alternately between EMB and the Clinical Sciences Building (CSB). The next one is on 22 Jul 2022, 4.30 - 6.30 pm at CSB Level 20, see you there!











On 30 November 2020, LEARN organized the first post-launch event to introduce LEARN’s 2021 activity plans and gather useful feedbacks from the early career researchers at LKCMedicine. A total of 39 participants, including faculty members, research staffs, and graduate students, attended the webinar. There was great enthusiasm on the LEARN grant call, attracting many questions regarding judging criteria and mechanism, grant usage, and collaborative investigation. LEARN’s mentor, Assoc/Prof. Kevin Pethe emphasised that LEARN grant is designed for research fellows to prepare for their next career stage by sharpening their grant writing skills and administration. Additionally, Soon Keong, an Exco member of the LKCMedicine Graduate Student Club, welcomed further collaboration between the two clubs in future events. Prof. Lim Kah Leong, Vice Dean of Research, reiterated that LEARN has the full support of the core leadership of the school and encouraged all LEARN members to actively foster a mutually beneficial relationship among early career researchers.

We proudly announce the official launch of LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network (LEARN) on the 28th of October 2020. “The LKCMedicine EArly Researcher Network, LEARN, is a newly formed club for, and run by, the research fellows at LKCMedicine. The goal of LEARN is to create an interactive community among the early career researchers through social and scientific events, professional development workshops and collaborations with other schools of NTU,” said Prof James Best during the LKCMedicine 10th Anniversary Ceremony. As a new initiative by the Office of Research and the Post-doc community, we hope that LEARN can offer our members a more enjoyable and fruitful time at LKCMedicine.