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Singapore International Summer Camp 2 - 6 June 2026

Calling teens keen on science, tech & business! Here’s your chance to stay at NTU for 5N and gain hands-on exposure to microbiome research, sustainability and entrepreneurship.

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How bacteria suppress immune defences in stubborn wound infections

SCELSE, SMART and UNIGE scientists found that Enterococcus faecalis releases lactic acid that weakens immune cells, helping infections persist. This discovery may lead to new ways to treat chronic wounds.

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SCELSE wins Silver at NTU Safety & Health Awards 2025

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UNIGE and NTU Singapore scientists find that silencing bacteria can worsen heart infections

In infectious disease research, disrupting bacterial communication is widely considered beneficial. A study by UNIGE and NTU Singapore shows this is not always true.

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Who we are

SCELSE (pronounced “cell-see”) is an interdisciplinary biofilm and microbiome research centre and a University Research Institute of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.

SCELSE studies microbial communities — including biofilms and microbiomes — to understand how microbes influence human health, industry, urban systems, and the environment. Through cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and global industry engagement, SCELSE develops sustainable solutions and real-world applications to address global challenges such as climate change, infectious diseases, resource resilience, and healthy ageing.

SCELSE’s research drives innovation in:

  • Public health and healthy ageing
  • Environmental sustainability and the circular bioeconomy
  • Industry and engineering applications
  • Food resilience and water systems
  • Societal and future resilience
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SCELSE’s Research Structure

Mission: “To discover, control and direct the behaviour of microbial biofilm communities and microbiomes for sustainable environmental, engineering, public health and medical applications.”

Environmental Engineering Cluster

Research in Environmental Engineering focuses on microbiomes in the urban water cycle, pollutant degradation, wastewater, nutrient removal, resource recovery and technologies for a circular bioeconomy.

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Biofilm Biology Cluster

SCELSE uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand the fundamental aspects of biofilm structure and function, studying how microbial interactions and the extracellular polymeric matrix impart the emergent properties that enable biofilm success.

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Meta-‘omics & Microbiomes Cluster

The Meta-'omics & Microbiomes cluster uses a top-down approach to identify microbiome and biofilm members, their functions, and community responses to novel and changing environments.

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Biofilms & Health Cluster

The Biofilms & Health cluster addresses public health and medical issues, focusing on prevention and treatment of biofilm infections and the development of sustainable antimicrobial technologies.

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Integrative Analysis Unit

The Integrative Analysis Unit addresses the need to comprehend the complexity of downstream analysis of metagenome and metatranscriptome datasets, ensure robust experimental design, to maximise data utilisation, and research output.

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    Latest Scientific Publications

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