A class of our own

Seven of the Faculty of Science’s programmes were globally ranked in the top 10 in the 2025 University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Our alumni from these top-ranking programmes have gone on to make important contributions to society and businesses. From pioneering breakthroughs in research to transforming healthcare, advancing sustainability, or leading impactful initiatives in business, our alumni’s stories are a testament to the excellence of NUS Science’s education.

Materials Science (6^th globally)

“My work has been pivotal in addressing various business gaps – from market intelligence tools, trading analytics data, SaaS applications, cloud-hosted platforms and now to Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven insights – contributing to the present and future of businesses by implementing cutting-edge solutions.”

Frances Tho manages the Asia Pacific’s regional commercial and client engagement efforts for commodity trading data and analytics for Wood Mackenzie, a global energy transition and commodity business insights provider. She drives proprietary and technology-driven research data across the energy, natural gas and financial investment sectors with short-term and real-time analytics to better guide customer decisions, which benefit the investment trading community in their day-to-day businesses. 

Chemistry (7^th globally)  

“Applying chemistry in the alternative proteins space has brought the dream of affordable, delicious and nutritious plant-based meats closer to reality.”

Novel foods like meat-free alternatives are making waves in Singapore. To address growing consumer demand, Dr Max Tham co-founded tHEMEat Company Pte Ltd, a food technology startup specialising in the manufacture of vegan heme-based meat flavouring and heme-infused plant-based meats. Its proprietary flavour catalysis technology accurately replicates the look, smell and taste of vegan-based animal meat.

Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (7^th globally)

“My work involves intuitive or counter-intuitive intriguing discoveries from seemingly messy data; nevertheless, I believe it ultimately contributes to a data-driven world, where informed decisions lead to better products, services and outcomes that benefit both society and the economy.”

Jessie Zhao Xi works with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and designers, to translate data insights into actionable recommendations at Tik Tok. She designs experiments, analyses user behaviour and trends and draws meaningful conclusions from data to drive product improvements and business strategies at the company.

Pharmacy and Pharmacology (8^th globally)

“We use next generation microneedle technology to improve the safety and efficacy of cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical skin and healthcare solutions.”

Dr Himanshu Kathuria founded Nusmetics to solve the biggest bugbear in cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries: efficacy. Its Microbee^TM delivery platform has spikes of tailored depth and size to open up microsized channels on the skin’s surface. Microbees can be mixed and used with current skin and healthcare products to increase their skin absorption up to 10 times faster and 1,000 times higher.

Mathematics (9^th globally)  

“I have an optimistic outlook that all of mathematics, however esoteric at first glance, may eventually be applied in the real world.” 

Lim Lek-Heng, a Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics at the University of Chicago, trains the next generation of applied mathematicians and statisticians in the art of advanced mathematical computations, indispensable in every modern quantitative discipline. Lek-Heng is currently developing the mathematical foundations to better understand technologies driving Artificial Intelligence. His accolades include the Young Faculty Award from the United States’ (US) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – which is behind transformative technologies like the Internet, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and more – and the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, the US’ Department of Defense’s most prestigious award for basic research.

Environmental Sciences (10^th globally)

“We are doing our part to address environmental degradation – one quality product at a time.”

Instead of discarding your bottles of wine, contact Soda Lemon and turn the bottles into artisanal glassware that is customised for you! Soda Lemon, co-founded by Sean Teoh and Teo Rui Xiang, aims to transform the way society views glass, both as a resource and as a material. It was born from the belief that while profit is necessary for a business, its foundations should be rooted on the pillars of sustainability.

Statistics and Operational Research (10^th globally)

“What is a problem I feel for and I want to solve that can help a lot of people? It is the ability to do sales. There are many other things you learn in school, but nobody teaches sales strategies.”

The failure of her first entrepreneurial venture taught Charmain Tan an important lesson: mastering sales is what every entrepreneur needs. She co-founded QuickDesk to help sales professionals improve productivity, by seamlessly managing the entire sales and marketing process. She also developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbot Engages.ai to optimise the qualification of leads and manage customer queries anytime, anywhere. Charmain was named to Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 for Enterprise Technology (2019) and Singapore’s inaugural Top 100 Women in Tech List (2020).