SINGAPORE — The Nanyang Technological University will invest nearly $500 million to start a college in hopes of producing the researchers it needs to meet the country’s life sciences ambitions.

Along with the college of life sciences, the university also wants to establish a graduate school of medicine, NTY president Tao Soon Cham says, adding that the proposed school will offer a doctor of medicine program on par with college and university curriculums in the United States.

The future of life sciences program, however, rests with an international committee review of Singapore’s medical education system, slated for the first half of this year.

Start-up costs were estimated at $465 million, mainly for buildings and equipment, while annual operating costs were likely to reach $50 million, half of which is allocated for faculty and staff.

Dr. Cham says the university has also teamed up with Singapore General Hospital to provide a biomedical engineering program. “NTU can leverage on its small base of biological sciences at its National Institute of Education and the resources of the hospital network in Singapore to state the college of life sciences,” he told the Singapore Business Times.

The life sciences college will be housed in NTU with facilities at Singapore General Hospital. Offered programs will include a bachelor of science in biological sciences, which combines technology and business elements; a pre-medical option; as well as master’s PhD and medical doctorates.

The move to set up the life science college was a response to Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan’s call for NTU to play a larger role in the economy. The government has already earmarked $2 billion to cultivate the life sciences industry into the fourth pillar of the economy, the other three being electronics, chemicals, and engineering.