SPMS aims to educate a new generation of graduates who are driven by and enjoy questions at the interface of the sciences. Our students will be knowledgeable in their respective disciplines of mathematics, physics, or chemistry, yet have a broad understanding and appreciation across disciplines, and will be adept and skilful for the global economy. They will be a versatile group: some may take up jobs in diverse sectors of the economy or engage in R&D work, others may venture into and become leaders in the business world with acumen and entrepreneurship; yet some may excel in areas that are beyond our imagination today.
The undergraduate 3- to 4-year program leads to a B.Sc.(Hons) degree. In addition, for the high achievers, it is possible to structure an accelerated B.Sc.(Hons) cum MSc, and a B.Sc(Hons) cum PhD, depending on the nature of the dissertation topic. However, a good education is not all about acceleration. Talented students can choose to immerse in research as early as in the first year of study, and along the way to prepare for dissertation work as partial fulfillment of the MSc or PhD degree.
"I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered all before me."
Sir Isaac Newton"
The undergraduate program will incorporate broad-based education beyond the major or concentration. In addition, to stay relevant and to meet the career needs of the students, SPMS offers opportunities for industrial and R&D attachments in industry, universities, or research institutes that will count towards graduation requirements. Such attachments may be overseas.
We will provide a quality of undergraduate education similar to some premier universities/colleges in USA, e.g. Amherst, Berkeley, Brown, Caltech, Carleton, Carnegie-Mellon, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Haverford, Illinois,Johns Hopkins, Michigan, MIT, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Swarthmore, UCLA, Virginia, Wellesley, Williams, Wisconsin and Yale.
For example, the major in Chemistry will follow the rigorous American Chemical Society accredited Chemistry programs. The major in Physics will cover the six core theories with a good balance of experiments that demonstrate how science advances technology, and the major in Mathematics will include a good mix of fundamental, as well as the applied, computational, and industrial aspects of mathematics and statistics. The combined major of Mathematics and Economics is aimed at students with strong quantitative aptitude and keen interest in economics.
The 4-year direct B.Sc.(Hons) program will require 144 academic units (AU) for graduation distributed over four levels:
- 72 AUs, effectively 2 years, in a major or concentration – Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics which cover the interfaces, with more majors to be defined in future years - including Honours project work;
The combined major of Mathematics and Economics has 108 AUs, effectively 3 years, of major courses, 15 AUs of electives and 21 AUs of broadening courses - 45 AUs of electives or a minor;
- 27 AUs of broadening or distribution including writing and communication courses
Click here for admissions procedure and requirement.
* The award of honours degree is based on the Cummulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) achieved at the point of graduation. Please refer to http://www.ntu.edu.sg/Services/Academic/undergraduates/Examination/Pages/GradePointAverage.aspx for more details.