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What does sustained research impact look like over time? 

A recent study in Communications of the Association for Information Systems analysed more than 5,000 publications across leading Information Systems journals over two decades – and found that NUS Computing Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli is among the top 10 female authors in Information Systems research across both 2001-2010 and 2011-2020. 

Her inclusion across two decades places her among a small group of scholars with consistent research contributions at the highest levels of the field.

The study also highlights a broader trend: while women are increasingly represented in Information Systems, they remain underrepresented at the highest levels of research productivity – making sustained contributions like these all the more significant.

At NUS Computing, we are committed to building an environment where more women can contribute, lead, and thrive in research.

Congratulations to Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli on this milestone!

The SingaX team, comprising researchers from NUS Computing, A*STAR, and NTU, has placed second at the Embodied Agent Interface (EAI) Challenge at NeurIPS 2025, developing a method that improves AI performance by learning from past errors – without additional model training.

Competing against 48 international teams, the team achieved an average score of 84.32, ranking among the top performers in the challenge.

The competition focused on developing embodied, agentic systems capable of interpreting natural language instructions and executing complex tasks in simulated environments. These systems must reason over long-horizon instructions, track intermediate states, and generate executable action sequences – challenges where existing approaches can fall short due to brittle prompt design and inconsistent outputs.

SingaX proposed an iterative prompt induction framework that analyses failure patterns during development and refines task instructions accordingly. This approach improves performance on new tasks without requiring additional model training, and offers a cost-efficient method applicable across different evaluation settings.

Team members include A*STAR Computing and Information Science (ACIS) Scholars: Niu Xinyuan and Chen Zhiliang (both NUS Computing PhD students in Computer Science), as well as Vernon Toh (NTU) and Li Yanchao (NTU).

Congratulations to the team on this achievement!

More information:
https://foundation-models-meet-embodied-agents.github.io/eai_challenge/#winners

NUS Computing Alumnus Wins Multiple International Best Paper Awards for Advancing Digital Inclusion

Congratulations to alumnus Dr Deng Yimeng and collaborators on receiving multiple international Best Paper Awards for their research on digital inclusion.

Their paper, “Inclusion by Design: Requirements Elicitation with Digitally Marginalised Communities,” received the 2024 Best Paper Award from MIS Quarterly, alongside the Senior Scholars Best IS Publication Award from the Association for Information Systems and the 2024 Bapna–Ghose Social Justice Best Paper Award from the INFORMS Information Systems Society.

Co-authored by Deng Yimeng (PhD IS, Class of 2016), Isam Faik, and Avijit Sengupta, the study advances a design-centred approach to digital inclusion. It argues that meaningful inclusion requires technologies to be designed in close partnership with marginalised communities, rather than through the adoption of one-size-fits-all digital solutions.

Drawing on the co-design of digital applications with farming communities in India and China, the paper introduces a novel methodology – design-based interpretive research – and proposes the concept of affordance translation to help bridge gaps between digital technologies and local contexts.Published in the March 2024 issue of MIS Quarterly, the paper highlights the School of Computing’s strength in rigorous, socially grounded information systems research, and its commitment to advancing technology that serves diverse communities.

Read the award-winning paper here: https://aisel.aisnet.org/misq/vol48/iss1/9/ 

We are pleased to congratulate Assistant Professor Warut Suksompong on his appointment as Associate Editor of Mathematics of Operations Research, a leading journal in the mathematical foundations of operations research.

Published by INFORMS, the journal features rigorous, peer-reviewed research on the theory and applications of operations research, including optimisation, algorithms, game theory, and decision sciences. 

As Associate Editor, he will play a role in shaping the field's scholarly direction by guiding the peer review of research at the frontier of mathematical and operational thinking. The appointment recognises Asst Prof Suksompong's research contributions and his standing in the global operations research community.

Join us in congratulating Professor Goh Khim Yong on his appointment as Senior Editor of Information Systems Research, one of the leading journals in the field of Information Systems.

This appointment recognises his research contributions and service to the global Information Systems research community.

Congratulations to Prof Khim Yong on this significant milestone!

We are pleased to announce that Associate Prof Qiao Dandan has been appointed Associate Editor at MIS Quarterly, one of the leading journals in the field of Information Systems.

Her appointment reflects her research contributions and service to the international Information Systems research community.

Congratulations to Associate Prof Dandan on this achievement!

NUS PhD Student Wins 2025 Best Paper Award at NeurIPS 2025 for Advancing Long-Horizon AI Agents 

We’re proud to share that NUS Computer Science PhD student Zhou Zijian has won the Best Paper Award at the NeurIPS 2025 Workshop on Multi-Turn Interactions in Large Language Models, selected from 230 submitted papers. The winning paper, “MEM1: Learning to Synergize Memory and Reasoning for Efficient Long-Horizon Agents”, was developed in collaboration with SMART (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) M3S programme and researchers from MIT.

MEM1 introduces a new reinforcement learning approach that allows AI agents to operate more efficiently across long, multi-turn tasks. Instead of storing every past interaction – a common limitation that leads to growing memory use and slower inference – MEM1 trains an agent to maintain a compact, dynamic internal state that keeps only the information that truly matters for ongoing reasoning. This results in significantly lower memory usage and faster performance across several benchmark tasks. 

The team has made the code and model open-source to support further research in long-horizon interactive AI.

Join us in congratulating Zhou Zijian and all collaborators on this outstanding achievement!

Distinguished Speaker Seminar with Prof Robert Tarjan: “Is Dijkstra's Algorithm Optimal?”

NUS Computing is pleased to host Prof Robert Tarjan, one of the world’s most influential computer scientists and a foundational figure in algorithms research, as part of our CS50 anniversary.

Prof Tarjan is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University and a Turing Award laureate recognised for seminal contributions that shaped modern data structures and graph theory. His work continues to influence generations of researchers and practitioners in computing and beyond.

Seminar Details

Topic: Is Dijkstra’s Algorithm Optimal?
Date: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Venue: LT15, Block AS6

Chair: Prof Seth Gilbert (Head, Computer Science)

RSVP: Please register by 25 November, 11:59 PM at https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Xu-lWwkxd06Fvc_rDTR-gm5x1Sp8M6RGscGRMyuul5JUQkRJQ1lTTlRJTzhGOFNHN0gwT1FWM09KQS4u&route=shorturl 

(Only for NUS Faculty,Staff & Students)

About the Seminar 

Dijkstra’s algorithm is one of the most enduring and widely taught algorithms in computer science. Beyond identifying shortest paths, it produces them in increasing order of length—a feature that has shaped decades of research in route planning and optimisation.

In this seminar, Prof Tarjan will discuss recent work he and his collaborators have undertaken that revisits a long-standing question: Is Dijkstra’s algorithm best possible? He will present findings that argue “yes”, alongside a brief look at alternative perspectives that suggest otherwise. The talk offers a rare window into the evolving landscape of algorithmic theory, guided by one of its most influential pioneers.

About the Speaker

Prof Robert Tarjan has held academic appointments at Cornell, Berkeley, Stanford, and NYU, and research roles at Bell Labs, NEC, HP, Microsoft, and Intertrust Technologies. He is known for pioneering many of the most efficient data structures and graph algorithms used today.

His accolades include:

• Nevanlinna Prize (1982)
• Turing Award (1986)
• Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award (1999)
  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

This seminar is part of NUS Computing’s 50th anniversary celebrations, marking five decades of academic excellence, research leadership, and contributions to Singapore’s digital future.

More Information here

NUS FinTech Society clinches four prizes at ETHRome 25

Five members of the NUS Computing’s FinTech Society made an impressive showing at ETHRome 25, bringing home four prizes from one of Europe’s leading blockchain hackathons.

Held from 17–19 October 2025 at Talent Garden Roma, the hackathon drew more than 250 developers from across the world to tackle real-world challenges in AI, DeFi, and privacy.

Representing NUS were: 

• Chu Wei Rong – Year 4, Computer Science
• Poh Say Kong – Year 4, Computer Science
• Jeriel Chan Zhi Yang – Year 4, Computer Science
• Jefferson Lee Chun Yin – Year 4, Business Analytics
• Lim Teng Hong (Kevin) – Year 3, Information Security 

Also competing as solo developers, each member submitted individual projects and collectively earned:

• 1st Place (Civic) — Smart Nexus by Jefferson Lee
•  2nd Place (Civic) — Munus by Jeriel Chan
•  3rd Place (iExec) — ExecSwap by Poh Say Keong
• ENS Pool Prize — Trick or TrETH by Chu Wei Rong

“The final night was a true test of endurance — we barely slept, but seeing our projects come together was incredibly rewarding,” shared Wei Rong, Blockchain Co-Director of NUS FinTech Society.

ETHRome 25 featured a prize pool exceeding US$60,000, sponsored by blockchain companies including Civic, iExec, ENS, and Base. The NUS team’s wins highlight not just their technical expertise, but also NUS Computing’s growing strength in blockchain innovation and Web3 development.

Congratulations to the NUS FinTech Society for flying the NUS flag high in Rome!

Stay tuned for the full feature story.

Two NUS Computing Professors Among the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers 2025 

We are proud to share that two faculty members from the NUS School of Computing — Distinguished Professor Yan Shuicheng and Professor Zhang Yang — have been named among the world’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025  by data analytics firm Clarivate. 

Among the fewer than one in 1,000 researchers globally recognised by Clarivate,  37 are from NUS this year — a reflection of our research community’s excellence and impact. The annual list identifies scientists whose work ranks among the top 1% of most cited globally, marking their strong influence in shaping their fields.

At NUS Computing, this recognition highlights our continued leadership in computer science and interdisciplinary research. The pioneering work of Distinguished Professor Yan and Professor Zhang continues to push boundaries across areas in artificial intelligence and computational biology.

NUS proudly ranks 1st in Singapore, 3rd in Asia and 17th globally in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings! 🌏💡

At NUS Computing, we continue to push boundaries in research, innovation, and education, shaping the future of technology and society.

See the full rankings here

We are proud to share that Lin Xinyu and Zhao Wangbo, PhD students from NUS Computing, have been awarded the 2025 Google PhD Fellowship.

Google has announced the recipients of the 2025 Global Google PhD Fellowships. These fellowships recognise outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields, specifically focusing on candidates who seek to influence the future of technology. 

The program provides vital direct financial support for their PhD pursuits and connects each Fellow with a dedicated Google Research Mentor, reinforcing our commitment to nurturing the academic community. We are excited to welcome this global cohort and look forward to partnering with them as they continue to become leaders in their respective areas..

👏 Join us in congratulating Xinyu and Wangbo on this remarkable achievement!

NUS Computing Students Win Gold at SPLASH 2025 ACM Student Research Competition

Two NUS School of Computing (SoC) students have emerged victorious at the ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) held during SPLASH 2025. The SRC provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to present their research to a panel of expert judges and conference attendees, gaining feedback, recognition, and exposure to the global computing research community.

Emily Ong (Fifth Year, Double Degree in Computer Science and Pure Mathematics) secured the gold medal in the undergraduate category for her project Siloso: Finding Logic Bugs in RDBMS via Dialect-Adaptable Reference Engine Construction. Junwen An (Second Year, PhD in Computer Science)  won the gold medal in the graduate category for his research LLM-assisted Dialect-Agnostic SQL Query Parsing.

The ACM Student Research Competition recognises students who demonstrate excellence in both research and communication. Participants submit a two-page description of their original research, which is peer-reviewed before selection for the competition. Winners are invited to present their work at SPLASH and may advance to the ACM SRC Grand Finals, further showcasing their achievements on an international stage.

SoC congratulates Emily Ong and Junwen An on their outstanding accomplishments. Their success reflects the high standard of research and innovation cultivated at NUS Computing, and highlights the School’s commitment to supporting students in pushing the boundaries of computing knowledge and technology.

Assistant Professor Yi-Chieh Lee Awarded Google Academic Research Funding for Trust and Safety in AI

Assistant Professor Yi-Chieh Lee from NUS School of Computing has been awarded the Google Academic Research Award (GARA) in Trust, Safety, Security & Privacy Research.

The award supports his project — “Developing a User-Centered Framework for Socio-Emotional AI Harm Assessment” — in collaboration with a social scientist at NTU.

The Trust, Safety, Security, & Privacy Research Award focuses on work that improves digital trust, safety, privacy, and security across the online ecosystem.

This recognition reflects NUS Computing’s continued strength in advancing research that shapes ethical and responsible technology for society.

🔗 Learn more about the Google Academic Research Awards here: https://research.google/programs-and-events/google-academic-research-awards/google-academic-research-award-program-recipients/ 

PhD Student Tianqi Song Receives Methods Recognitions at CSCW 2025

NUS Computing PhD student Tianqi Song has been awarded Methods Recognitions at the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2025) for her paper, “Multi-Agents are Social Groups: Investigating Social Influence of Multiple Agents in Human-Agent Interactions.”

Supervised by Prof Yi-Chieh Lee, Tianqi’s research examines how groups of artificial agents influence human decision-making and behaviour — contributing to a deeper understanding of human-agent collaboration in digital spaces.

This recognition follows her earlier success at the 75th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, where she received the Top Paper Award in the Human-Machine Communication division. 

Together, these achievements highlight the growing impact of interdisciplinary computing research at NUS School of Computing.

Read the research feature here