National University of Singapore

This course is offered through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in Science (UROPS). The intent of UROPS is to formally involve undergraduate students in research activities under the supervision of faculty members in their respective fields of study. UROPS aims to enhance undergraduate students’ knowledge of, and acquire the skills required for, the intellectual process of inquiry. 

This course introduces financial economics. It develops a theoretical foundation for choice under uncertainty, portfolio analysis, and equilibrium asset pricing models. A considerable portion of the course is devoted to fixed-income and derivative securities. 

This course introduces Science and Technology Studies (STS), a field that examines the work of scientists and engineers as sociocultural processes, informed by and informing society. The course analyzes ethnographic and historical accounts of scientific laboratories, medical clinics, everyday infrastructures, and computerized simulations, among others to answer questions including: How does an observation get accepted as a scientific fact? How do science and technology factor into our understanding of our bodies and our kin? Who counts as an expert and how does the meaning of expertise change over time? How do technologies get incorporated into the meaning of being human? 

This course builds upon the basis of Japanese 1 and aims to develop basic linguistic and socio-cultural skills and expand the repertoire of the daily topics and situations with simple structures. While more emphasis is placed on the development of oral communication skills, students also learn how to read short passages and write short compositions. Approximately 100 new kanji characters are introduced.

This course introduces and investigates fundamental concepts of linear algebra in the context of the Euclidean spaces R^n. Topics include systems of linear equations, matrices, determinants, Euclidean spaces, linear combinations and linear span, subspaces, linear independence, bases and dimension, rank of a matrix, inner products, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization, linear transformations between Euclidean spaces, and applications.

Using selected Singapore texts from a variety of different genres, this course explores the historical roots and contemporary relevance of literary production in Singapore. Beginning with colonial writing, the course moves through considerations of national and postcolonial literatures to contemporary concerns. Given Singapore's history, the notion of a "Singapore" text will be used creatively in order to reflect upon the growth of Singaporean identity and culture, and literary texts from other countries in the region may be used for comparative purposes.

The course introduces the foundational and holistic knowledge and understanding of urbanism―the study of relationships between people in urban areas with the built environment. It provides a comprehensive inquiry of urban history, key theories, topics, design principles and practices related to urban design, urban planning and landscape design. The emphasis is on developing critical and analytical skills of reading, documenting, analyzing and synthesizing complex information regarding contemporary urban issues and conditions. 

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of sub-cellular structures, functions and interactions in unicellular and multi-cellular systems. Emphasis is on cellular functions. Topics include structures and functions of organelles, organelle biogenesis (including organelle inheritance and import of proteins into organelles), intracellular protein trafficking, the cytoskeleton, and cell movements. In addition, students will be introduced to the current concepts of intercellular and intracellular signalling, molecular basis of cell proliferation and apoptosis.

This introductory course explores what a living thing is, the basics of life, and the science behind it. Topics include how traits are inherited, biotechnology, diversity of life, concept of life functions from cells to tissues and from organs to systems, how organisms maintain their internal constancy, and the organization of major organ systems.