UM wants tie up with NUS on research to improve world ranking
(TMI) – Universiti Malaya (UM) wants to work more closely with Singapore’s National University of Singapore (NUS) in scientific research in its bid to raise its profile among the world’s top academic journals, the Singapore Straits Times reported.
This plan was presented to the island republic’s president Tony Tan Keng Yam, who visited UM yesterday on his three-day state visit to Malaysia.
On September 10, the QS World University rankings list revealed that UM ranked at number 167 while NUS stood at a strong 24th position in the world.
QS had said Malaysian universities did not produce enough cited research although they have quality academics and produce employable graduates.
UM’s efforts in the intended collaboration with NUS will be propelled by the Malaysian government-funded High Impact Research (HIR) scheme aimed at boosting UM’s chances to be among the world’s top 100 universities in two years.
As it stands, about 10% of the 192 projects under HIR involve NUS, the Genome Institute of Singapore and Tan Tock Seng Hospital, in areas like cancer and HIV/Aids.
The plan is to double this to 20%, said HIR consultant Emeritus Professor Lam Sai Kit, during the visit by Dr Tan, who is also the chancellor of NUS.
Just the day before, Dr Tan had spoken about how the bond between NUS and UM was an example of how the two countries can build on its historical ties.
This resulted in UM vice-chancellor Ghauth Jasmon suggesting for a dual PhD programme with NUS and UM students spending time at both institutions.
