The NIE NEXUS Award introduced in 2020 accords the highest recognition to individuals or teams within the Institute who have achieved outstanding collaboration in research. It also fosters collaborative synergies and builds capacities in niche areas of research.

To qualify for this honour, nominees have to be active in collaborative research across the Institute’s Academic Groups and Research Centres for at least two years. They must also be recognised by their peers for fostering collaborative synergies as well as contributing to the knowledge and skills within the Institute over the last two years. Team nominations must comprise faculty and research staff from at least three departments who have worked together for two years or more.

The inaugural award winners were announced by the National Institute of Education Director, Professor Christine Goh, during her virtual annual Address on 4 September 2020. They are:

• meriSTEM@NIE Singapore, a multi-centric education, research and industry STEM centre, whose mission is to enhance the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) literacy in Singapore through cross-disciplinary partnerships in research, teaching and outreach. The centre provides leadership in STEM education in Singapore through programmes backed by robust and rigorous STEM education research. It also provides evidenced-based STEM education outreach that inspires new and exciting partnerships while improving the quality of STEM literacy.
• Multimodality Research Interest Group, comprising representatives from the English Language and Literature, Natural Sciences and Science Education, and Humanities and Social Studies Education Academic Groups; Learning Sciences and Innovation centre, and the Office of Education Research. As a ground-up initiative, the Interest Group seeks to understand the current multimodal practices in the classrooms, work on multimodal classroom practices to improve students’ learning, and synthesise findings on multimodal practices from disciplines like English, Science and Social Studies in order to strengthen pedagogical practices and professional development.

The winning teams were selected based on the quality and impact of their collaborative research, taking into consideration the novelty, uniqueness, strengths and significance of their effort to strengthen the Institute’s niche expertise and strategic foresight for the future of education.