ISTANBUL, TÜRKIYE, 8 April 2025 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been given the honour to be part of the delegation from Malaysia to Istanbul, Turkiye to attend the 1^st Malaysia-Republic of Türkiye Joint Committee on Higher Education.

The programme is co-chaired by the Minister of Higher Education of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Diraja Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir and President of the Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Türkiye, Professor Dr. Erol Özvar.

Malaysia is represented by various central agencies, among which are the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA), Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) and a number of local universities such as USM, UTM, UniMAS, UTP and Sunway University.

Representing USM is the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Seri Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed. Accompanying him is USM Director for Academic and International Division, Professor Dr. Lee Keat Teong.

As stated by Zambry, this Joint Committee (JC) has been approved by the Malaysian Cabinet and will be held on a yearly basis, ideally with the location alternating between Malaysia and Turkiye.

In order to ensure that this JC will deliver immediate and impactful outcomes, a Working Committee will be established to set targets and monitor this collaboration.

Among the modes of collaboration that have been identified include joint degrees, student internship in high technology industries, mobility programmes, artificial intelligence, research co-funding and Erasmus funding.

Apart from that, another important collaboration will be on the exchange of information on Research Universities (RU).

The Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Türkiye has introduced Research Universities in Turkiye in 2017, in which the performance of research universities will be evaluated through the Performance Monitoring Index, consisting of 33 indicators gathered under three dimensions, namely “Research Capacity”, “Research Quality”, and “Interaction and Cooperation.”

This is very similar to the Malaysian Research Assessment (MyRA) Instrument which was developed in 2006 to meet the Malaysian Research University agenda. At the moment, Malaysia has 5 RUs while Turkiye has 23.

Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Professor Dr. Mohammad Shatar Sabran had earlier stated that, there will be mutual recognition accorded by MQA for institutions already recognised by the Turkish government.

Other collaborations discussed include student/faculty exchanges, research co-funding (where one research area is identified and funding will come from both sides), training of senior higher education officials from the ministry and top management of universities from both sides, establishment of more scholarships for Malaysian students to pursue their studies in Türkiye, technical and vocational (in areas of TVET) training and curriculum development.

During the Joint Committee meeting, USM also had an exchange of MoUs with two Turkish Universities, Kocaeli University and Hacettepe University.

Zambry later stressed that the move for collaboration is a necessity, and that any MoU signed must be followed with activities, otherwise it will only remain on paper.

The meeting held reflected the commitment from both sides, in efforts to promote and foster the growth of collaborative initiatives in the future.

The next JC meeting is then agreed upon, to be held in Malaysia.

Text: Professor Dr. Lee Keat Teong/Editing: Media & Public Relations Centre, USM