SMU and MINDEF Renew First-Of-Its-Kind Postgraduate Scholarship for Retiring Military Personnel

Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) have renewed the SMU Warriors Scholarship offered to retiring Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen and women.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today, SMU and MINDEF will facilitate talent development and lifelong learning by allowing servicemen and women to pursue postgraduate degrees at SMU.

Both parties will honour the invaluable contributions of SAF servicemen and women by co-sponsoring up to 30 postgraduate scholarships at an estimated total cost of $1.5 million over the next four years.

The scholarships are bond-free and are open to servicemen and women with at least 10 years of service. Applicants must meet SMU admission requirements, which include the Graduate Management Admission Test or equivalent.

Established in 2014, this partnership is the first of its kind to recognise the contributions made by retiring SAF servicemen and women to the country and aims to facilitate their transitions into a second career. The scholarships are multi-disciplinary, covering up to 15 postgraduate programmes (refer to attachment for list of programmes) at the University. Scholarship recipients will have access to SMU’s postgraduate career services and University facilities which are available to full fee-paying SMU students. To date, SMU has sponsored a total of 56 SMU Warriors Scholarships.

The signatories at the MOU signing ceremony held at SMU were SMU President Professor Lily Kong and the Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Lieutenant-General (LG) Melvyn Ong. In her address prior to the ceremony, Prof Kong said, “First-of-its-kind when it was established in 2014, the SMU Warriors Scholarship aimed to serve as a springboard for outstanding leaders to move from success to success. The bond-free scholarship is awarded to recognise Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel who are retiring for their years of contribution to Singapore and to help them in their transition as they embark on their second careers. To date, SMU has awarded 56 scholarships under the SWS. MINDEF personnel bring with them a plethora of viewpoints practical experience and diversity to the postgraduate learning experience. We look forward to our continued collaboration with MINDEF.”

“The SMU Warriors Scholarship is a recognition of our servicemen and women’s contribution to the defence of our nation, and an affirmation of our service personnel’s knowledge, skills and experiences acquired over a military career. This continued partnership with SMU represents MINDEF and the SAF’s commitment to equip retiring service personnel with market-relevant knowledge and skills, to help them successfully transit to a second career,” remarked LG Ong.

[Photo:(L-R) SMU Provost Prof Timothy Clark, SMU President Prof Lily Kong, Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Lieutenant-General (LG) Melvyn Ong and Deputy Secretary (Admin), Mrs Elaine Ng at the SMU Warriors Scholarship MOU signing ceremony held at SMU on 9 January 2020.]

SMU is globally recognised for its innovative curriculum and interactive pedagogy. The ties between SMU and the business and management community are extensive and growing. The University’s distinguished faculty bridge theory and practice, preparing graduates to grow, develop leadership competencies and to make a meaningful impact on society. SMU’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) is ranked 43rd worldwide by the Financial Times in its 2019 Global MBA Rankings. SMU’s Master of IT in Business is ranked 1st in Asia for the second year in a row and 14th worldwide out of 83 Masters in Business Analytics programmes from 18 countries around the globe in the QS Masters in Business Analytics Rankings 2020.