High Impact Thesis

Why do countries sometimes hesitate to work more closely with powerful allies, even when regional security threats are growing? In this episode, we speak with Anthony Toh Han Yang, a PhD student at NTU’s Public Policy and Global Affairs programme, about his research on US alliances and alliance cohesion in the Asia-Pacific. Anthony explains why rising threats alone cannot fully account for alliance behaviour, highlighting the importance of strategic value, bilateral relationships, domestic politics, and public opinion. Drawing on cases including South Korea and the Philippines, we explore why alliance commitments can strengthen or weaken over time and what these dynamics mean for regional security. Beyond his research, Anthony also reflects on staying objective while studying geopolitics, communicating international relations to the public, and his PhD journey.

What does it take for AI-generated images and videos to do more than simply look real? In this episode, we speak with Ziqi Huang, a Ph.D. candidate at NTU’s MMLab, about her research on making generative AI more controllable, reliable, and aligned with human understanding. She introduces ReVersion, which helps diffusion models learn relationships between objects; VBench and VBench++, which evaluate video-generation models across multiple human-aligned dimensions; and VChain, which enables models to reason through visual steps before generating a final video. We also discuss why realistic-looking outputs can still violate physics or common sense, how generative models could support robotics and physical AI, and Ziqi’s journey from an undergraduate interested in art and technology to an award-winning AI researcher.

In this episode, we sit down with Kethmi Hettige, a Ph.D. candidate in Computing and Data Science at NTU, whose research focuses on spatial-temporal prediction and reasoning. Kethmi shares how her work combines AI, graph neural networks, physics-guided learning, and large language models to tackle real-world challenges such as air quality prediction, traffic forecasting, and environmental monitoring. We explore her research contributions, including the importance of interpretable and trustworthy AI systems, and integration of scientific knowledge into machine learning models. Beyond the technical discussion, Kethmi also reflects on her experiences throughout the Ph.D. journey.

How do we measure the value of a smile? Dr. Hilary Ma joins us to discuss her research on participatory arts and the aging experience. From the galleries of the National Museum to the heart of Singapore's neighborhoods, learn how her initiative, Project ARTISAN, uses intergenerational storytelling to combat loneliness and build resilience in seniors. It’s a story of art, heritage, and the powerful "kampong spirit" that emerges when we create together.

Welcome back to High Impact Thesis!This episode dives beneath the surface, exploring the 70% of our planet that remains largely hidden. We speak with Abu Bakr Azam from the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme, whose doctoral work is challenging the million-dollar price tag of deep-sea access.His thesis, "Acoustic Aided Localization and Perception for Low-Cost Underwater Robotics," shows how to explore the oceans without breaking the bank. We discuss how his novel systems achieve centimeter-level localization accuracy using affordable sensors, overcoming challenges like murky water and the complete failure of GPS.Join us to explore the future of low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), the drive for new solutions like non-contact cleaning, and how this work opens doors for conservation, energy, and scientific discovery. Abu Bakr also shares a candid look at the personal journey of completing this complex and impactful PhD.