The CEA team from the Proteins4Singapore project at TUMCREATE checking on the general health status of the soybean plants growing in the vertical farm facility. From left to right: Jooseop Park, Professor Senthold Asseng, and Vanesa Calvo-Baltanas. Image: TUMCREATE
Exchange between TUM and NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine during a TUM delegation visit in 2025: Prof. Yusuf Ali, NTU LKCMedicine Vice Dean International Relations (5th left), Prof. Juliane Winkelmann, TUM Executive Vice President for International Alliances and Alumni (6th left). Image: NTU LKCMedicine
Participants of the Global Fellows Program at NTU Singapore in 2023. Image: TUM-GS
At the Dies Academicus 2024, Prof. Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry) of NTU, receives the honorary senatorship from TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann. Image: Andreas Heddergott / TUM
TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann (left) and NTU President Prof. Ho Teck Hua agree on the flagship partnership in Singapore. Image: NTU Singapore
The Technical University of Munich and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore are linked by a forward-looking flagship partnership. Together, the two universities are expanding student and doctoral exchange and preparing joint study programs, while pooling their research strengths in key areas such as quantum technologies, sustainable agriculture, medicine, additive manufacturing, materials science, and the application of AI in science.
The foundation for this flagship partnership was laid as early as 1997, when TUM and NTU signed their first cooperation agreement. Since then, the two universities have built a close relationship through joint study programs with TUM Asia and numerous successful research initiatives with TUMCREATE. With the flagship partnership officially signed in July 2024, TUM and NTU aim to further strengthen their long-standing collaboration and expand it across disciplines.
In June 2026, TUM and NTU signed an agreement to establish joint professorships. The new model will deepen institutional integration between the two universities, strengthen research collaboration between Munich and Singapore, and create a platform for addressing global challenges through joint academic excellence.
The Global Fellows Program, launched in 2017 by TUM Graduate School and Imperial College London, offered 40-50 doctoral candidates from all disciplines the opportunity to develop their research and collaboration skills within an international context as part of a five-day summer school. The program successfully ran until 2025.
In 2021, NTU joined as a new partner, expanding the bilateral program between Imperial College London and TUM into a trilateral initiative and further strengthening collaboration among the three institutions.
Topics and host locations:
- 2025: Multidisciplinary solutions for climate-responsive societies (TUM Campus Munich)
- 2024: Data-driven innovations for zero pollution mobility (Imperial College London, South Kensington)
- 2023: Data for sustainability (NTU Singapore)
- 2022: The role of robotics in well-being and the workplace (TUM Campus Garching)
- 2021: Health data and technology for society (Online)
The collaboration with NTU has also flourished in research. In 2010, TUMCREATE was establischd to advance TUM's research initiatives in Singapore. As part of the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), TUMCREATE benefits from Singapore's research funding and collaborates closely with local and international institutions. NTU plays a pivotal role for the joint research.
Together with NTU, TUM and TUMCREATE developed multi-faceted research projects spanning topics from urban mobility, food science to solutions for a carbon-neutral megacity.
Ongoing joint research projects between TUM and NTU:
- Proteins4Singapore: Combining the cultivation of alternative protein sources with innovative processing and extraction methods, and reverse engineering for sustainable urban food production
- AquaCycle: Developing proteins with high nutritional and sensorial quality from by-products of fishery and aquaculture
- Singapore’s Pathway to Carbon Neutrality: Forecasting Singapore’s future energy demand with the inclusion of new technologies and analysis of renewable potential
- CellFACE: Imaging-based flow cytometry for hidden hematology biomarkers
- QUASAR: Addressing the cybersecurity challenges posed by advancements in quantum technologies (also in collaboration with Fraunhofer Singapore and NUS)
As the first overseas campus of a German university, TUM Asia in Singapore broke new ground in 2005 by launching a joint Master’s degree in Integrated Circuit Design with NTU. In 2007, the collaboration expanded with the introduction of the Master program in Microelectronics, which was restructured in 2015 to meet evolving industry demands. The revised program, now in Green Electronics, features an updated curriculum with a strong focus on sustainable integrated circuits and microelectronics.
To this day, TUM professors continue the tradition of delivering lectures to students in Singapore. Graduates of the program are awarded a prestigious joint Master’s degree from TUM and NTU.
In July 2024, TUM President Professor Thomas F. Hofmann and NTU President Prof. Ho Teck Hua officially signed the TUM-NTU flagship partnership. The partnership focuses on future-oriented topics such as quantum technologies, sustainable agriculture, medicine, additive manufacturing, materials science, and the application of AI in science.
In addition to research and teaching, overarching institutional topics such as career development, entrepreneurship, and best practices in university management play an important role. The partnership aims to further strengthen cooperation between the two universities at all levels.
Students and doctoral candidates
As part of the TUMexchange program, TUM students can study at NTU and NTU students can study at TUM. Doctoral candidates benefit from the TUM-NTU Joint Supervision Program, which enables them to spend at least 12 months conducting research at the partner university.
Funding initiatives for researchers
To support new projects with Nanyang Technological University, scientists of TUM can apply for funding from the TUM Global Incentive Fund. Within the framework of the TUM Global Visiting Professor Program, it is also possible to invite scientists from NTU to TUM for joint research.