On 03 September, Alibaba Group officially launched the Alibaba Talent Programme in Singapore in collaboration with NTU, under the Industrial Post-graduate Programme (IPP). Supported by EDB, the programme aims to equip postgraduate students with critical R&D skills through practical work experience on projects with Alibaba.
 
The four-year programme is part of Alibaba’s move to nurture future R&D talent from Singapore, particularly in the field of computer science, and it is open to Singapore citizens and Singapore PRs. The first intake will start in January 2019 and is slated to consist of between 20 to 30 students.
 
As PhD students, the programme participants will spend part of their studies at one or more of Alibaba’s research facilities, including the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute at NTU, Alibaba’s first facility of its kind outside of China. Other facilities include the various Alibaba campuses in Hangzhou and Beijing.
 
Students will benefit from access to large data samples and business scenarios from Alibaba as they participate in research projects led by Alibaba and our local universities. At the end of the programme, top scholars will also have the opportunity to be full-time Alibaba employees. Mr Ang Chin Tah, Director of Infocomms & Media at EDB, said that “We are delighted that Alibaba has chosen to partner Singapore in training a future generation of AI experts. This will help us deepen our bench of AI experts to create new cutting edge technologies from Singapore.”