PENANG, 26 June 2014 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will start offering the M.Sc. programme in Forensic Science beginning 2015/2016 academic session after having the experience of conducting the course at Bachelor degree level for 15 years.

Its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman said the course has been approved for implementation and will be introduced in mixed mode by the School of Health Sciences, USM in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia.

He said that USM is capable of running the course and is committed to produce highly skilled human capital in line with the current situation that demands higher performance especially in forensic investigation.

“The collaboration with the Department of Chemistry will be improved by creating more opportunities involving the training of staff in the department and in the university.

“Furthermore, the field of Forensic Science has become more critical in legal aspects and our country needs to train researchers who can be classified as experts with excellent academic credentials,” he said.

He was speaking at a press conference after signing a Memorandum of Agreement and Understanding (MOA/MOU) with the Department of Chemistry, MOSTI, here today.

Representing the Department of Chemistry is its Director-General, Ahmad Ridzuan Ibrahim. Also present were Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Division of Industry and Community Network (BJIM), Professor Dato’ Dr. See Ching Mey and key officials of both parties.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Ridzuan said the government is also committed to collaborate with USM in view of the ability and commitment shown by the university since the collaboration began in 2000.

He said that both sides agreed that it is important to enhance the achievement of forensic science and is ready to meet the current demand in order to maintain the credibility and performance of this body, particularly in terms of research and development.

“If possible, we would like to see that in the effort to develop the human capital in this field, the academic qualifications of the staff and scientists in the department can be upgraded even up to doctoral level.

“That does not mean that the existing staff are not qualified, we just want to improve their performance so that they can be more equipped in terms of knowledge and skills to meet the ever increasing demands of the existing and future stakeholders,'' he said.

In the meantime, the main scope of the signing of the MoA/MoU is for both parties to collaborate in research projects of mutual benefit, including joint investigations and the exchange of science and technology information and expertise.

It also involves the exchange of research and development materials; sharing of infrastructure, instruments and facilities; sharing of best practices in research; intellectual property management and technology transfer. - Translation: Yong Check Yoon/Text Marziana Mohamed Alias/Photo: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa