Undergraduates of Newcastle Australia, the Singapore campus of the University of Newcastle, will go through wide-ranging programmes and industry-relevant collaborations.
Championing the belief that its people can be a nation’s most precious asset, Singapore has made a name for itself as a country committed to human capital formation. In recent decades, the city-state has become a world-renowned educational and knowledge hub through significant investment. In addition, the globalisation of higher education has seen universities increase their cross-border activities through mutually beneficial transnational partnerships with academies located across the globe.
Capitalising on these twin imperatives, the University of Newcastle (UON) established its first overseas campus here in 2002. 20 years on, the local campus has been rebranded as the Newcastle Australia Institute of Higher Education (Newcastle Australia) and recently moved into its new home at the Singapore National Library.
“Our new Singapore campus demonstrates our commitment to building strong regional partnerships and delivering globally-engaged and collaborative education and research,” says vice-chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky.
Tightening the nexus between industry and academia
Ranked 192 in the QS World Universities Ranking 2023, UON prides itself on being a research-intensive institution and the number one university in Australia for industry collaboration. By pursuing partnership and engagement opportunities across business and government, the university aims to support the acceleration of research and innovation outcomes into real-world enterprise applications, while significantly shortening the knowledge cycle from industry and business practices into academia.
As a result, prospective students can look forward to industry-relevant programmes that have been designed with future workforce needs in mind while providing the opportunity to work on real-world industry challenges.
As UON’s Asia-Pacific hub that is situated within a global network of campuses, Newcastle Australia currently partners with PSB Academy and BCA Academy to offer a range of programmes spanning business, engineering, information technology and health in both full-time and part-time modes.
Imparting lessons on planet and people
Beyond ensuring graduates possess the skills and competencies required to meet the challenges of the future economy, UON has also been recognised for its strategic commitment to the organisation’s triple bottom line (TBL), a sustainable framework that measures business success in three key areas: profit, people and the planet. UON was named the top university in the world with regards to partnerships for a sustainable future in the 2021 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which assess universities against the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Professor Jennifer Milam, who is the pro vice-chancellor Academic Excellence, says: “Equity and sustainability are two of our university’s core values. They underpin all our activities, including the courses we teach, the research we conduct and the partners we choose to work with.
“Our university aims to produce life-ready graduates and that includes helping students to develop a deep cultural awareness and a commitment to social, ethical and sustainable practices.”
UON was recently awarded a A$50 million trailblazer grant from the Australian government and another A$150 million from industry partners for its leadership in the clean energy and sustainability spaces and plans on exporting this expertise to Singapore.
A local campus with a global experience
Boasting more than 6,000 graduates from over 39 countries since its inception, Newcastle Australia has become a university of choice for both international and local students alike. In addition to learning from global thought leaders and experts across all disciplines, studying at Newcastle Australia means joining over 275 staff, 17,000 students and an international network of more than 40,000 alumni-graduates with a reputation for professionalism, scholarship excellence, and global citizenship.
Its notable alumni from Singapore include Dr Khaw Boon Wan, chairman of SPH Media Trust, and Professor Cheong Koon Heon, chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities under the Ministry of National Development. Dr Khaw is a former politician, while Prof Cheong used to head the Housing Board.
Students can also look forward to interacting with world-class educators from other campuses when they visit Singapore, and the option to transfer between the Singapore and Australian campuses during study terms. Credit transfer arrangements with all five local polytechnics and various overseas institutions also means that participants can graduate with a degree awarded by UON, which brings the advantage of a shorter study duration.
Newcastle Australia continues to play an important role in providing access to world-class higher education in Singapore and the broader region. The university began its roll out of additional specialised programmes last August with the Master of Business Psychology. Other programmes launching this year include the Master of Health Economics, Management and Policy, the Master of Information Technology and the Master of Special and Inclusive Education.
Looking forward to the next 20 years of delivering an inspiring student experience, Professor Tony Travaglione, pro vice-chancellor and chief executive officer, says: “Newcastle Australia leverages UON’s academic excellence to create programmes that are respected and robust. Moreover, we are committed to solving the world’s problems aligned with our core values of equity, excellence, engagement and sustainability. Our advantage lies in the distinctiveness of our human capital development, preparing graduates that are both industry-relevant and future-fit who go on to be leaders in their own right.”
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