Education that builds capability and confidence

DBS offers outstanding education and research opportunities across undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. Our teaching and mentorship are anchored in three core disciplinary strengths:

Biophysical Sciences

Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Across all programmes, we emphasise the habits and capabilities that last: rigorous critical thinking, clear scientific writing, and confident oral communication — so our graduates can thrive in research, industry, public service, and emerging fields.

Research that connects discovery to real-world outcomes

As a research-intensive department, we pursue biological questions that lead to discoveries with the potential to transform biomedical sciences and human health, food security, and environmental sustainability. Our research spans multiple organismal models — from plants to animals — and connects insights across scales, from atomic and molecular mechanisms to cells, tissues, systems, and organisms.

Guided by our shared vision, we remain committed to fundamental discovery — while actively integrating emerging technologies such as high-resolution microscopy, genome editing, big data analytics, and computational and quantitative methods to open new frontiers in science.

Platforms, partnerships, and place

DBS is strengthened by strategic partnerships across Singapore and globally — through student exchanges, research collaborations, internships, visiting scholars, and adjunct appointments bridging academia, industry, and the public sector.

We are also supported by state-of-the-art research infrastructure, including world-class core facilities such as the Cryo-electron Microscopy Facility, Protein and Proteomics Centre, Research Centre on Sustainable Urban Farming, and the NUS Centre for BioImaging Sciences.

Our research community is further reinforced by close affiliation with outstanding institutes, including the Mechanobiology Institute, which aims to be a leading global centre for mechanobiology research and education, and the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, which focuses primarily on understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie the development and physiology of plants, fungi, and animals, to uncover new translatable knowledge within the pillars of food security, sustainability and well-being.

DBS is also uniquely positioned in the equatorial tropics — one of the world’s richest regions for biodiversity — making NUS an exceptional environment for research and education in ecology, evolution, and biodiversity. DBS has played a pivotal role in strengthening Singapore’s natural history and biodiversity research ecosystem, including contributions linked to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and the Tropical Marine Science Institute.

An Invitation

If you aspire to be an explorer on the path of discovery—curious, rigorous, and driven to make a difference — we welcome you to DBS. Join us as we push boundaries in fundamental knowledge and translate scientific insight into better outcomes for people, society, and the natural world.

CHEW Fook Tim
Head of Department