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NUS
Collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS) is first of its kind
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Promoting safety and public understanding of risk
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£10m
Granted in 2016
In 2016, the Foundation committed a major grant of £10 million to establish a world-leading centre in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS), to be named the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk. The area of the public understanding of risk and communication of science is less developed in Asia compared to the UK and USA; and the culture, attitude, and role of science are different in Asian society. As a result, the Institute will be unique and the first of its kind in Asia.
It will undertake research and education and build connections with practical end users such as policy makers, decision makers, and opinion formers in government, industry, regulators, the media, and general public. It will be multi-disciplinary, spanning engineering, statistics, sociology and psychology.
This collaboration with NUS heralds a unique opportunity for the Foundation to make a distinctive difference in the crucial area of the public understanding of risk. It also marks the contribution that the social sciences have towards achieving the Foundation’s charitable aims.
Quite often, the public perception of risk far outweighs the actual engineering risk. The new Institute will help address this by building a better understanding of the socio-technological processes and factors affecting public opinion forming, and using this to produce new tools and approaches for uptake by the end users across Asia and other developing economies worldwide.
Sustainability and the long-term existence of the Institute will be ensured through some of the Foundation grant being used to establish an endowment fund that will underpin in perpetuity a number of key appointments. This includes a prestigious Chair to be named the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Professorship in Public Understanding of Risk. A number of other key posts will also be endowed including fellows, distinguished visitors, and scholarships for PhD students with preference given to those from disadvantaged or underrepresented communities. In line with its commitment to the Institute, NUS is to match the Foundation’s grant with a contribution of £10 million to the endowment fund.
Find out more at https://ipur.nus.edu.sg/