{
  "id": 9236097,
  "title": "Singapore's top university loses chemistry chief to year-old Chinese school",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/singapores-top-university-loses-chemistry-chief-to-year-old-chinese",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T01:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "VnExpress International",
    "slug": "vnexpress-international",
    "url": "https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/singapore-s-top-university-loses-chemistry-chief-to-year-old-chinese-school-5120623.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nanyang University of Science and Technology (NUS) has lost its chemistry chief, Professor Lu, to a newly established Chinese university, the Eastern Institute of Technology in Ningbo (EIT). Professor Lu has served as NUS's chemistry department head since 2021 and will take up a full-time role at EIT, retaining his teaching, research, and management positions at NUS until his departure. NUS, ranked eighth in the QS World University Rankings 2026, is the only Asian university in the global top 10 and Singapore's highest-ranked institution. This move follows the appointment of K. Jimmy Hsia, a former vice-president and founding dean of NTU's graduate college, to EIT on August 1. EIT, approved as a degree-granting private university by China's Ministry of Education in June 2025, boasts more faculty members than undergraduate students. Its founding president, Chen Shiyi, is a Chinese Academy of Sciences academician who previously led Southern University of Science and Technology. EIT is backed by Yu Renrong, the founder of chipmaker Will Semiconductor, who has pledged 30 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) to the institution. Professor Lu expressed enthusiasm for EIT's rapid development, noting its strategic location in Ningbo, a manufacturing hub in China's Yangtze River Delta. This region offers opportunities for translating laboratory research into commercial applications. Chemistry, according to Professor Lu, is a crucial aspect of basic sciences with significant applications in materials, medicine, energy, and advanced manufacturing. Lu's research at NUS focused on organocatalysis, transition metal catalysis, and photocatalysis, aiming to develop efficient synthetic routes for pharmaceutical molecules. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the National Research Foundation Investigatorship Award, the Asian Core Program Lectureship Award, and the GSK-SNIC Award in Organic Chemistry. Lu expressed gratitude for his long-term connections with collaborators, friends, and former students in Singapore and emphasized his commitment to advancing asymmetric catalysis with a focus on biomedicine and sustainable chemistry at EIT.",
  "summary": "Lu Yixin, head of chemistry at the National University of Singapore, will join China's Eastern Institute of Technology in January 2027, the second senior academic to leave Singapore for the school in six weeks.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}