IPS breaks away from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to become university-level research institute

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) has become a university-level research institute with the National University of Singapore (NUS), meaning that it will operate as an autonomous research institute within the university.

As a result, IPS will no longer sit within the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), where it has been a research centre since 2008.

Full continuity

The changes are effective Apr. 1, but otherwise the mission of the institute remains largely unchanged.

It intends to maintain its longstanding “mission to analyse public policy, bridge thought leaders, and communicate research to a wide audience”.

IPS's programmes, publications, and partnerships will continue, while its staff and researchers will transition to the new arrangement “with full continuity”.

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong will continue on as the institute’s founding patron, and former Singapore Permanent Representative to the United Nations Tommy Koh will remain as special advisor.

The institute has a “multidisciplinary research portfolio, which spans social, economic, and cultural interests.”

IPS was founded in 1988 as an independent policy think tank.

It is responsible for publishing numerous op-eds, research and policy white papers, and survey results; including the IPS Survey on Race, Religion, and Language.

It also holds its annual Singapore Perspectives forum at the beginning of the year, probably the most prominent platform for policy discussion in the country.

Its former directors include such notable figures as Tommy Koh and former Singapore diplomats Chan Heng Chee and Ong Keng Yong.

New chapter

Despite becoming independent of LKYSPP, the institute expects to continue a close relationship with it, and the wider NUS community.

IPS Director Janadas Devan said that IPS's years with LKYSPP had been “formative” and that the institute was “grateful to the School’s leadership, including its former deans, for their support”.

He added that “This new chapter allows IPS to build on that strong foundation, broaden our collaborations across NUS, and continue to serve Singaporeans through rigorous, independent policy research.”

Top image via Institute of Policy Studies/Facebook