GSC 2017:
A Confluence of
Ideas 2.0

Balloons were flying across Lecture Theatre 2 on Saturday morning during the keynote address at the Graduate Student Conference 2017 on 28 October 2017.

The keynote speaker was Dr Mohamad Nazir, our very own NIE PhD graduate and a Master Teacher from the Academy of Singapore Teachers, Ministry of Education. Dr Nazir, an established Science Educator, shared how the learning of science can be brought to life and made more exciting. To illustrate his point, the balloons were part of a physics lesson on elasticity and air flow, among other relevant concepts. It got everyone excited—period. Through this striking demonstration, he also drew relevance to the theme of “A Confluence of Ideas” as he elucidated the tremendous potential for learning to be impactful when teachers of different subjects come together to co-create lessons that cross disciplines.

Some 240 higher degree students, faculty members, and students from overseas universities participated in this year’s event. The organising committee retained the theme from the previous edition, given its rather timeless relevance. A series of pre-conference workshops were featured on 27 October, providing participants with a chance to learn about statistics, academic writing, and coding in R, to name a few.

The main conference programme included oral and poster presentations, which facilitated an excellent opportunity for close and friendly interactions. The highlight of the afternoon session was the nerve-wrecking Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, where a total of 15 participants spoke succinctly and edu-entertained the audience on the topic of their research passion. This year’s winner was Mr Jesudas Menon from PESS, who most persuasively convinced the judges that one’s post-exercise diet matters!

Overall, the conference this year garnered great interest from both higher degree students and faculty members alike. True to the theme, participants left the conference with minds well-fed by the scholastic sharing from presenters across different disciplines. New friendships were also formed and fortified over the sumptuous spreads during tea and lunch breaks!