SINGAPORE, July 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Singapore wants to be at the forefront of nanoscience, and has set aside more than 3 million Singapore dollars (about 1.76 million US dollars) worth of scholarships to develop nanotechnology.

    Speaking at the launch of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) on Friday,Singapore's Acting Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that Singapore aspires to be at the forefront of nanoscience, and that investment in nanotechnology is therefore an extension of thesolid human capital and technological infrastructure the island state has built up over the years.

    Six patents have been filed under the NUS program, he said, adding that enterprises in the city state are already engaged in nanotechnology.

    Saying that in Singapore, the first batch of scholarships for graduate students in nanotechnology was approved in 2002, Shanmugaratnam revealed that the NUS will launch in August a Masters' Program in nanoengineering in a bid to meet the growing need for postgraduate expertise in the nano area.

    Last year, governments worldwide invested 3 billion US dollars in nano-based research and development. Enditem