University of Illinois officials on Thursday celebrated the opening of the university's first research center outside the United States.

The Advanced Digital Sciences Center in Singapore officially opened in Fusionopolis, a science and technology complex developed by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*STAR.

"This is a complex, international partnership and we believe that Singapore, here on the Pacific Rim, with its proactive government, its modern infrastructure, investment in research and higher education and its talented and diverse population is the perfect nation to enter into such a partnership," said University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman in a speech Thursday in Singapore.

Launching an international research center in the Asian country has been in the works for years. In order to enter into agreements with the Singapore government the university created a limited liability company. The Singapore agency will fund $50 million for the center over five years.

More than a dozen Illinois faculty eventually are expected to work in the center. And the university is planning to train doctoral and post-doctoral students there.

The Advanced Digital Sciences Center will be managed by the UI College of Engineering and focus on a project called the Human Sixth Sense Program. The research examines how people interact with computers and how people receive and understand information.

"The planet is smaller, flatter and smarter. Information and intellect, the currency of the new information marketplace, flows across borders freely, at the speed of light it seems. How we respond to this digital world is, of course, at the heart of the Human Sixth Sense Program here at the Advanced Digital Sciences Center," Herman said in his prepared remarks.

Herman and Vice Chancellor for Research Ravi Iyer were on hand for the opening as well as other university faculty and project leaders.

"The physical presence of a world-class university like Illinois will add to Singapore's attraction as a cutting-edge research hub. It will allow us to train a pipeline of local Ph.D. talent, attract more international talent, encourage the fermentation of ideas within the local scientific community and spur research breakthroughs from Singapore," said A*STAR Chairman Lim Chuan Poh in a release.