Graduate Assistantship Programme

In view of the conditions set forth by NTU for Research Scholarships, and keeping in line with the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for teaching assistantship (TA), the school implemented undergraduate supervision/teaching by graduate students as a training component for our PhD students.

SBS and the other schools under the College of Science have mandated all PhD scholars under the MOE funding to complete 208 TA hours (Singapore Citizens and Singapore permanent residents) and 416 TA hours (international students) through the entire candidature of the Ph.D. student.

We have also considered the best practices from other universities and have decided that undergraduate teaching should be a required component of postgraduate training. Fulfilment of the teaching requirement is necessary and a condition for final thesis submission for all students. Students are encouraged to start fulfilling the teaching requirement prior to their confirmation exercises. There will be no remuneration until the full teaching requirement is completed.

Below are guidelines pertaining to the undergraduate supervision/teaching requirement.

Students on MOE research scholarships and NTU project-funded scholarships are required to complete 208 hours for Singapore Citizens/PRs and 416 hours for International Students. NPGS and PGA scholars are required to complete 156 hours for Singapore Citizens/PRs and 312 hours for International Students, and self-financing students are required to complete 70 hours, all under Category 1.

Please note that the GAP requirement must be fully completed before the final-year scholarship renewal, by 36 months.

Type of Teaching Assistant (TA) assignments and maximum hour requirements

With effect from August 2026 onwards, SBS has revised the maximum hour that can be clocked under the respective categories as follows:

GAP hours

Please take note of the revised limits when planning and signing up for TA duties. Hours exceeding the maximum allowable limit for each category will not be counted towards your GAP requirement.

Students who are interested in taking up tutorial TA duties are required to complete HWG702 (Teaching Assistant Course) before they are eligible to take on tutorial classes.