International Youth Discovery Programme (IYDP)

23 Jun 2025 To 27 Jun 2025

(5 Days Programme)

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM

(Singapore Time)

About The Programme

This summer, join us at the National University of Singapore for this unique programme designed to serve as a “Discovery Lab” for young minds. It offers multi-perspective and immersive learning opportunities to help students discover education and career interest for development and achieve success in the globalised world.

The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Executive Education’s (LKYSPP EE) interactive pedagogy of participative lectures, case discussions and panel session will guide students to find meanings to new world developments. They will experience NUS’ campus life, along with organisation visits, culturally immersive city tour and Universal Studios Singapore to build new friendships and beautiful memories.

You Get to Choose

Students are given the choice of one of the learning tracks to embark on according to their interest:

💡 Navigating the Change – Humanities, Global Affairs & Public Policy
Topics include Introduction to Public Policy, Societal Innovation, Media & Public Policy, International Affairs, Future of Work etc.

💡 Leading the Future – Business Environment & Global Economics
Topics include Behavioural Economics, International Trade, Financial Policy, Business Innovation, System Thinking etc.

Who is it For

Students in Grade 10 – Grade 12 with keen interest to explore and learn beyond school curriculum.

Students should also have a good command of spoken and written English.

What to expect:

Depending on the learning track that students choose, they will learn about:

Navigating the Change – Humanities, Global Affairs & Public Policy Track

the sociology and political science disciplines helping students to better understand humanity vis-à-vis global affairs and capitalism, technological revolution and Future of Work, changing definition of happiness, and understand the importance of good public policy; or

Leading the Future – Business Environment & Global Economics Track

the challenges of the global business world caused by geopolitical fragmentation and technological advancement, and what makes a good leader to navigate the ever-changing global landscape.

💡 Learn with Us

Students will learn from thought-provoking and interactive lectures / seminars, an insightful panel discussion session, as well as specially designed quizzes conducted by LKYSPP EE.

(Please note that LKYSPP EE is only in charge of this academic segment comprising lecture, panel and quiz sessions. Other activities are not organised and handled by LKYSPP EE.)

Enrol In This
Programme Now

Application Deadline: 23 May 2025

Programme Dates and Locations

Dates: 23 – 27 June 2025

Time: 9.30am – 5.00pm* (classroom sessions)

* Students should refer to the programme schedule provided upon admission for exact daily timing.

Locations:
National University of Singapore University Town and
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS Bukit Timah Campus

Contact

For programme enquiry, please email summerprograms.nus@apcme.com.sg or WhatsApp (please message only) at +65 8165 6170

Our Instructors

Dr. Carol Soon, Associate Professor (Practice), Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore

Dr. Carol Soon is Associate Professor (Practice) at the Department of Communications and New Media (CNM) in the National University of Singapore. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Information Integrity (2025 to 2026) and Principal Investigator at the NUS Centre for Trusted Internet and Community. She is also Adjunct Principal Scientist at the Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety (CATOS) that is set up by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Her research interests are in media regulation and digital policy, social media governance, digital literacy and policy communication. Dr. Soon also specialises in public engagement and she worked with the Ministry of Health to convene Singapore’s first citizens’ jury in 2017. Since then, she has collaborated with different ministries on engaging citizens to co-create policy solutions for different policy issues, ranging from employment resilience, recycling, youth mental health and work-life balance. Dr. Soon is currently Vice Chair of Singapore’s Media Literacy Council. She is also a member of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Co-Governance Community of Practice, and she serves on the National Crime Prevention Council.

Dr. Ryu Yongwook, Assistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Ryu Yongwook is an Assistant Professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). He specialises in International Relations, with a focus on East Asia. His research interests include foreign policies of China, Japan, Korea and ASEAN as well as broad regional and global issues. His current research examines (1) the effect of national identity on foreign policy and international relations, (2) Chinese economic statecraft, (3) Sino-Japanese relations, and (4) Korea-Japan relationship. Prior to joining the LKYSPP, Dr. Ryu taught at the Australian National University and Yonsei University, and held visiting posts at Beijing University, Tokyo University, Hitotsubashi University, and National Taiwan University. He is a native of South Korea and grew up both in Korea and New Zealand. Dr. Ryu was a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Harvard, and his research has been supported by various organisations including the Japan Foundation Fellowship and Taiwan Government. Dr. Ryu received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government, Harvard University; MA (with merit) in international law from the College of Law, Australian National University; BA (first class honors) from The University of Auckland, and BA (top graduate) from The University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Dr. Denis Hew, Senior Research Fellow, Centre on Asia and Globalisation, National University of Singapore

Prior to taking up his current appointment as Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Denis Hew was Director of the APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU) from 2011 to 2022. PSU is the research arm of the APEC, which is a regional grouping that promotes trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation in the Asia-Pacific region. In this position, he led a team of skilled professionals that provided high quality evidence-based research and technical support to APEC Senior Officials, Committees and Working Groups. Dr. Hew also spent two years in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Southeast Asia department, where he managed technical assistance programs on regional cooperation and integration. From 2001 to 2008, Dr. Hew was Senior Fellow and Regional Economic Studies Coordinator at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Singapore, which is one of the region’s oldest and most established research institutes. During his time at ISEAS Singapore, Dr. Hew was also the Managing Editor of the ASEAN Economic Bulletin, an academic journal that focuses on policy-relevant economic issues in Southeast Asia. Dr. Hew is a financial economist by training and holds a Bachelors (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick, UK and Masters and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Manchester, UK. He has published extensively on policy issues related to economic integration in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Sreeja Nair, Assistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Sreeja Nair is an inter-disciplinary policy researcher with a specialisation in environmental policy and governance. She studies policy processes and tools of governments for designing policies under uncertainty, focusing on the interplay of science and politics. Her research covers issues facing high uncertainty in the future policy context such as climate change, food and water security, and more recently digital transformation and workforce resilience. She is the author of ‘Rethinking Policy Piloting: Insights from Indian Agriculture’ (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and co-editor of the recent book Emerging Pedagogies for Policy Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). With over 9 years of research experience, Dr. Sreeja has led and been part of multiple inter-disciplinary environmental policy projects in Asia. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy (National University of Singapore), M.A. in Climate and Society (Columbia University) and M.Sc. in Environmental Studies (TERI University).

Dr. Andrew Francis-Tan, Assistant Dean (Student Affairs) and Senior Lecturer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Andrew Francis-Tan is a senior lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Previously, he was an associate professor of economics at Emory University. He received his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago. Professor Francis-Tan engages in quantitative research in the fields of education, labour and demography. His current research aims to understand patterns of inequality, public policies intended to empower vulnerable populations, and factors that influence social identities like race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and religion.

Dr. Marina Jose Kaneti, Assistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Marina Kaneti is Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. She specialises in questions of global development, including the Chinese Belt and Road, migration, and environmental governance. In addition to journal publications pertaining to global governance issues, Dr. Kaneti has curated a digital platform documenting ancient and modern interactions along the Silk and Spice Routes and the geopolitical impact of the Belt Road initiative. To capture the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Kaneti is also developing an index on social protection mechanisms and emergency preparedness in Southeast Asia. Dr. Kaneti is the recipient of the 2021 NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award and the 2021 LKYSPP Digital Educator Award. Prior to her academic career, Dr Kaneti worked as project manager for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and equity trader on Wall Street. She occasionally engages as a strategy consultant for non-profit organisations, social enterprises and think tanks.

Dr. Bou Sleiman Lea, Assistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Bou Sleiman Lea is passionate about contemporary urbanism and the intricate interplay between technical city designs and their social consequences. She grew up in Beirut, a city that was destroyed and rebuilt eight times. The history of this city has fueled her fascination with urban dynamics. Moving to a developed city like Paris in 2014 prompted her to reflect on the key concepts that define a city and the diverse array of social, economic, environmental and political dynamics that shape it. Her research is written in part to quench her thirst for understanding these complexities. Throughout her academic journey, she has received several accolades for her research, including the RIEF Best Paper Award 2023, the GIORGIO ROTA Best Paper Award 2023, and a special mention from the AFSE 2024 Best PhD Award. Currently, Dr. Lea is an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, where she continues to delve into the complexities of urban, environmental and transportation economics which she uses insights from psychology, sociology and other social sciences to understand how human behaviours affect economic decisions. She obtained her PhD from CREST-École Polytechnique in 2023.

Dr. Koh Chaik Ming, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Operations Research & Analytics, National University of Singapore

Dr. Koh Chaik Ming is a Senior Research Fellow at IORA of National University of Singapore (NUS) and was the former Asia CEO of China’s largest protein import platform. He is currently the Board Director of The Singapore Food Bank. Before that, he was the International CEO of a Shanghai-headquartered investment group with an SGX-listed REIT. Prior to this, Dr. Koh spent 8 years with Royal Dutch Shell. He was GM of Shell Marine Products for Asia Pacific & Middle East where he managed a US$2 billion business portfolio. He was also Commercial Director and GM New BD for Shell China based in Beijing for 4 years. Prior to Shell, he spent 9 years with Temasek Holdings, both as the Head of Aviation and Logistics investments and the first Shanghai Chief Representative where he opened the first Shanghai office for Temasek Holdings. He was first posted to Beijing with M&Ms/Mars in 1994 where he built the first Dove chocolate & Pedigree Petfood plant in China and managed the entire Greater China supply chain. Dr. Koh received his Doctorate from Singapore Management University (SMU) and is an alumni of INSEAD MBA 1999D and Harvard Business School AMP168 program. Dr. Koh is currently an Enterprise Singapore-sponsored business coach for the ELT program to help many Singaporean multi-generational SMEs with their strategic capability building, transformation and business succession.

Dr. Woo Jun Jie, Senior Lecturer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Woo Jun Jie is a Senior Lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). Prior to this, he was a Senior Research Fellow in the Governance and Economy Department at the Institute of Policy Studies. His research interests include urban policy, economic development, and crisis management in Asia. He has published several books on Singapore’s development as a global financial centre. His research has also been published in leading SSCI journals. Prior to joining LKYSPP, Dr. Woo was Assistant Professor and Programme Leader at the Education University of Hong Kong, where he led the formation of a bachelor’s degree programme in Policy Sciences and Management. Before that, he was Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University, where he won the inaugural Community Research Fellowship for his service-learning initiatives. As Rajawali Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, Dr. Woo studied policy co-creation in Boston’s technology sector. His interest in tech and urban policy was picked up during his stint as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technological and Design. Dr. Woo received his PhD from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He holds an MSc in International Political Economy from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University and a BSc (First Class Honours) in Economic and Management from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Sasidaran Gopalan, Senior Lecturer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Dr. Sasidaran Gopalan is a Senior Lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Economics at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) based in Abu Dhabi. In the past, he held various research appointments across several universities in Asia including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). He has also taught at the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan). His teaching interests span the broad areas of macroeconomics for policy, money and banking, empirical methods for public policy, international economic policy and international political economy with a significant applied policy emphasis. Dr. Sasi's research assumes a strong interdisciplinary orientation and lies at the intersection of applied macroeconomics, international economics and development policy with a broad focus on emerging markets. Specific topics include foreign direct investment, financial globalisation, financial inclusion and trade and global value chains. He has published in notable field journals such as World Development, the World Economy and Journal of Macroeconomics, co-written books as well as contributed to several policy briefs and op-eds for leading global financial dailies.

Dr. Samer Elhajjar, Senior Lecturer, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore

Dr. Samer Elhajjar is a marketing academic holding a Doctorate in Marketing from EM Strasbourg Business School, University of Strasbourg, France. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer of Marketing at the esteemed National University of Singapore (NUS), where he imparts his expertise to both undergraduate and graduate students, shaping the future of marketing leaders. Throughout his career, Dr. Elhajjar has contributed to curriculum development, industry engagement, and academic leadership. His experience equips him with the ability to manage curricula, foster impactful industry relationships and make significant contributions to the academic field. An active researcher, Dr. Elhajjar’s work has been published in international refereed academic journals, and he has presented at top conferences worldwide. In addition, he engages in executive development and consulting, sharing his expertise with global corporations across Asia, Europe, and America. Dr. Elhajjar’s expertise has extended to prestigious platforms, where he has spoken at companies such as Microsoft and various academic institutions. He is also a frequent media commentator, with interviews featured in esteemed outlets such as the BBC, Fortune, The Straits Times, CNA, Insider and Today.

Dr. Neo Kok Beng, Honorary Fellow, ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO)

Dr. Neo Kok Beng is an award-winning engineer, educator and entrepreneur specialising in technology innovation and commercialisation. He is the Founder / CEO of NEO Aeronautics with a vision to empowering everyone to fly. Combining his passion in flying and expertise in engineering, he leads a world-class founding team to design the Singapore’s 1st flying car that is in compliant with FAA Part 103. He is Fellows of Royal Aeronautical Society (UK), ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisation and Institution of Engineers (Singapore) and has served on the Singapore’s Engineering Accreditation Board. He received the President’s Design Award, Prime Minister’s Community Award, US Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative Award, Harvard Kennedy School Service Award， Global Entrepreneurship Winner (bizBarcelona) and NUS Innovation & Entrepreneurship Awards. He is co-founder / Chairman/ investors of deeptech ventures such as Medical Technology (AWAK, Breathonix, E3A, Roceso) and Engineering (BeeX, E2S2, TinyMOS, NEO Aeronautics, Fronka). He worked for Singapore Technologies group from 1991 to 2002, raising from system engineer to Vice-President (New Business & Planning) in Corporate Investments, Aerospace, Electronics and the Information Technology business sectors.

Ms. Eliza Quek, Director, Terrific Mentors International

An international, cross culturally sensitive organisation and HR consultant who thrives on learning, adding value in transforming the way individuals, teams and organisations think and view challenges. Eliza brings with her a wealth of Transformational Leadership experience in both private (MNCs, SMEs) and the public sector (Public Service Reform to enable Malta to enter the European Union; evolving People Centered Management culture in Singapore’s Vocational Industrial Training Board; strategic thinking and diversity management, Myanmar government; enabling Ethiopian Airlines to compete effectively within Africa). Her work in Healthcare (Abbvie, Alcon, Amgen, C-Suite Fortis Healthcare, GSK, Integrated Health Information Systems; Johnson Matthey, Novartis, Roche Group and Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi-Aventis, SingHealth involved facilitating articulation of Leadership Brand, enhancing executive presence, connecting with impact (AT Kearney) and agility to thrive in a VUCA and digitalised world. Eliza is also on the Barclays Global Faculty and clients in the financial industry include Allianz Asia Pacific, Allianz Indonesia, American Express, Asian Development Bank. Eliza has coached C-suite members in stakeholder management, strategic networking and partnering skills; systems thinking; influencing and negotiation; cultural fluency, learning agility, change management and communications; strategic planning and team building and paradox management.

NUS LKY