NTU Singapore PhD in cell reprogramming

NTU Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine has posted a scholarship-supported PhD project for its January 2027 intake focused on direct cell reprogramming for biomedical applications, according to the school’s funding page. The listing says applications close on September 20, 2026 and names Assoc Prof Yen Choo as supervisor. The project sits inside LKCMedicine’s PhD by Research Programme, which the school says trains students from backgrounds including natural science, medicine, engineering, computing and social science. (ntu.edu.sg) The NTU posting is narrow enough to matter. It is not a generic call for graduate students; it is a defined project tied to regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapies, and manufacturing questions that sit close to translational research. For students in Taiwan or elsewhere in Asia trying to map regional PhD options, that makes the page useful as a concrete example of how a medical school advertises bench-to-clinic work. (ntu.edu.sg) ### What exactly is the project asking a PhD student to work on? LKCMedicine says the project title is “Direct Cell Reprogramming for Biomedical Applications.” The school says the work will explore ways to generate “clinically relevant cell types” through direct cell reprogramming for use in regenerative medicine, cell therapies and biomedical research. (ntu.edu.sg) The NTU description says the research aims to build scalable cell manufacturing technologies by identifying transcription factor combinations that can convert one cell type into another efficiently. The same posting says potential applications include advanced cellular or tissue models for research and development, cGMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapies including allogeneic immunotherapies, and in vivo reprogramming for regenerative medicine and autologous immunotherapies. (ntu.edu.sg) ### Why does the wording matter for applicants? Assoc Prof Yen Choo’s listing signals three layers of work at once: basic cell engineering, translational therapy development and manufacturing scale-up. That combination is visible in the project language itself, which moves from transcription factors and cell conversion to cGMP manufacturing and immunotherapy use cases. (ntu.edu.sg) LKCMedicine also places the PhD inside its broader research structure. The school’s research-areas page says the programme spans domains including Cancer Discovery & Regenerative Medicine, Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Population & Global Health, and other biomedical fields. That gives applicants a sense of where a single project may fit institutionally and what neighboring methods or disease areas might be available. (ntu.edu.sg) ### Who can apply, and what funding is actually stated? NTU’s funding page says “Funding support will be provided for a suitable candidate.” The same page says eligibility for this scholarship-supported project is open to Singapore citizens and Singapore permanent residents. (ntu.edu.sg) LKCMedicine’s admissions page adds the baseline academic requirements for the PhD by Research Programme. The school says applicants need at least a distinction or second upper class honours degree, or an MBBS, confirmation from a proposed supervisor, and English-language qualifications unless prior study was fully conducted in English. TOEFL iBT scores of at least 100 or IELTS scores of at least 6.5 are listed, while the GRE is optional but strongly encouraged for applicants who did not graduate from Singapore autonomous universities. (ntu.edu.sg) ### What does the application process look like in practice? The September 20, 2026 deadline appears on the scholarship page for this project. NTU says interested applicants should contact Yen Choo directly by email and send a CV for consideration. (ntu.edu.sg) The formal application then runs through the school’s graduate admissions route. LKCMedicine says applicants should use NTU’s graduate submission portal, follow the programme deadline and submit the documents listed in the application checklist. The admissions page also says applicants are strongly encouraged to include publications, conference presentations and a summary of relevant post-bachelor’s research experience. (ntu.edu.sg) ### Why is this relevant beyond Singapore? Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine was established in 2010 by Nanyang Technological University in partnership with Imperial College London, according to NTU. That positioning helps explain why a project page can combine stem-cell style lab work with translational and manufacturing language rather than treating them as separate tracks. (ntu.edu.sg) For students building a regional map of translational-medicine training, the immediate next step is specific. NTU says the deadline is September 20, 2026, the intake is January 2027, and enquiries for this project should go to Assoc Prof Yen Choo through the contact listed on the scholarship page. (ntu.edu.sg) (wcms-prod-admin.ntu.edu.sg) (ntu.edu.sg)