Evolutionary Biology Lab

We have an archived copy of article in the Berita Harian. An unofficial translation done by the lab is available below.

This is an unofficial translation of a news article that appeared in Berita Harian on 30 Aug 05 on the Lab’s achievements at the Willi Hennig Society Meeting. Note that translation was done verbatim and no corrections made to some errors of facts.

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NUS tops post-graduate students’ conference in Norway

Non-science student’s research paper on primates awarded third prize

Evolutionary history of primates, such as monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas has always been an interesting topic for Mr Farhan Ali. As a result of his strong interests in the area, this NUS student was chosen to be the third best speaker in a conference at Norway for post-graduate students and scientists from all over the world. Even more surprising is the fact that Farhan Ali is not from the science stream, but majors in psychology.

The prestigious annual conference, organized by The Willi Hennig Society, took place from 25 to 29 Jul and discusses research and identifies those that have the potential for publication in scientific journals. About 15 – 20 research papers were presented in the conference that was attended by about 100 participants.

NUS emerged as the top university in the conference that is in its 25th year because it won four out of the five student awards that were available. Apart from third prize, NUS also won first prize, and two consolation prizes. All the students were University Scholars Programme students. Ms Kathy Su Feng Yi, 24 years of age, emerged as the best presenter, winning a cash prize of S$1000 (S$1660). Kathy, who was not available for the interview because she suffering from chicken pox, presented on DNA. Mr Farhan, a third year Arts and Social Sciences student, won a cash prize of S$500. The two NUS students who won the consolation prizes were Ms Nalini Puniamooorthy, 22 years old, and Mr Kwong Shiyang, 24 years old.

When interviewed, Mr Farhan, the second child in a family of four, said that his presentation, among others, touched on research done with other students, on finding the right “formula” for studying evolutionary history of primates.

“I was told that some of the criteria for the awards include style of presentation and a clear and interesting content. Before I went there, I did not think I would win anything significant given how many post-graduate students who are better than I am were also presenting”, said Farhan.