In 2024, a record number of people in Singapore and across the world have come together to commit to giving back. This year’s President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) 2024 honoured 13 remarkable individuals and organisations that are creating positive social impact. Held at Raffles Hotel Singapore, PVPA 2024 showcased a diverse range of changemakers that are working tirelessly to improve the lives of others.
NUS Singapore Prize 2027, launched on 6 November, will honour an exceptional work that deepens the understanding of Singapore’s history, as well as fosters a greater sense of national identity. A distinguished Jury Panel chaired by Kishore Mahbubani, former diplomat and Distinguished Fellow at NUS Asia Research Institute, will judge the Prize and announce a winner in 2027.
To ensure that the Prize is open to all forms of knowledge, this year the competition will be split into two categories: the Books Category and the new Arts and Multimedia Category. The Books Category will continue to reward works of outstanding quality and significance, and the new Arts and Multimedia category will award multimedia and artistic historical works. Works may be delivered in any language, with no limitation on the date of production, to broaden the scope for submissions.
A prestigious international jury will select a shortlist of publications, which the Jury Panel will then consider for the final award. The winning publication will be published by NUS Press. This is the third time that NUS Press has sponsored the Singapore Prize.
This year, the Prize’s judging panel will feature experts from various fields. The judges are committed to supporting high-quality scholarship that contributes to the development of Singapore and the region. In addition, they will also seek to identify works that engage with important societal issues.
The winners of the NUS Singapore Prize will be recognised at a special event on 5 June, and their work will be featured in an exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore. The Prize will be supported by a comprehensive outreach program that provides grants to enable the public to access and read the nominated publications.
In line with the theme of this year’s NUS Singapore Prize, ‘Our Common Future in a Fragile and Fractured Planet’, the event will feature a series of talks by the finalists from this year’s NUS-Tsinghu Earthshot Programme (TEP). TEP is a multidisciplinary initiative by NUS and Tsinghua University to spotlight environmental solutions for humanity’s most pressing challenges. It brings together the worlds of science, policy and business to deliver impact at scale. The Prize will also support TEP’s ongoing efforts to develop the next generation of environmental leaders in Singapore and beyond. This will include the launch of a public education campaign, and a new scholarship for undergraduate students from low-income families. In the coming years, the Prize will continue to serve as an anchor for a vibrant ecosystem that is transforming how people and businesses think about the environment. It will support a global movement to shift the balance from consumption to conservation.