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SINGAPORE: Singapore's first Research Centre of Excellence (RCE) dedicated to the study of earth sciences has opened its doors.
With some S$150 million of funding for the next 10 years and a strong Southeast Asia focus, the centre is set to push the understanding and prediction of major natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in neighbouring countries further.
Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO, National Research Foundation, said: "Singapore is such a natural place in which we can set up a centre of expertise through our research - to be a source of knowledge and information about seismic activity of tsunamis and earthquakes in this region. Certainly being a source of knowledge would be helpful for government policy makers in this region."
Besides attracting top scientists to carry out research, the centre will roll out projects to predict natural disasters, thereby saving lives of those in the region.
This includes setting up an experimental GPS station, touted as the next generation of advanced geophysical sensors and putting in place extensive databases, like the "wovodat".
Professor Kerry Sieh, director, Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, said: "'Wovodat' will allow us to mine the wealth of data that already exists in ancient documents in this observatory. So when there is a period of volcanic unrest in Yogyakarta, Merapi or Western Sumatra, we will be able to assess what the unrest might mean more quickly."
At the local level, the observatory plans to embark on education programmes in schools to spark students' interest in earth sciences.
The centre hopes to attract some 20 researchers and 50 graduate students in the next five years. - CNA/vm
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