By Lynn Seah

When 22-year-old Tan Zheng Wen was choosing a scholarship, it was the bond-free nature of the Nanyang Scholarship offered by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) that proved to be the clincher.

"The fact that it is bond-free allows me to explore options like going overseas for further studies or work," he says.

The second-year aerospace engineering undergraduate is also on NTU's elite CN Yang Scholars Programme. Named after the 1957 Nobel Laureate in Physics, it is targeted at outstanding students in science and engineering.

Undergraduates take a set of courses tailored to cultivate their interest in research and provide them with a strong foundation for delving more deeply into any discipline in the sciences and engineering.

Students like Mr Tan also get to work with a professor on a research project in their very first year in university. "We get first-hand research experience prior to a lot of other people," he says.

Another benefit of being on the programme is a guaranteed place in a hall of residence for the student's entire course of study at NTU.

Mr Tan is an active member of his hall.

In his first year, he was its cultural secretary and organised performances by cultural groups at the hall.

This year, he is in the hall's main orientation committee.

Although his academic workload is heavy, he makes time for extra-curricular activities because he wants to develop himself holistically during his four years at NTU.

Last year, he started a club for CN Yang scholars with a group of friends.

He is currently the club's president. The aim of the club is to increase awareness of the CN Yang Scholars Programme as it is fairly new, having started only in 2006.

Mr Tan feels that the programme has really stretched him. He might even consider a career in research.

"Research is not as dry and boring as I thought," he says.

Whatever he decides, there is nothing to hold him back.

The bond-free Nanyang Scholarship allows him to have fluid plans.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 24 Jan, 2009.