KUBANG KERIAN, 29 July 2015 – Workshop on Collaborative Research, held for two days at the Dewan Utama of the Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has provided an avenue for research collaborations among four universities situated on the East Coast of Malaysia.

The workshop, which was aimed at establishing a network of cooperation in various research areas between USM, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), was held to discuss solutions for common problems which had arisen in research projects.

The USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Professor Dato' Dr. Muhamad Jantan said, this workshop was organised specifically for universities on the East Coast which are doing researches, in line with the USM agenda for APEX which practices the concept of sharing.

“USM wished to share its researches with other universities to initiate the national agenda on research and this workshop is the first move towards that objective in highlighting each university’s research outcomes through collaborations among the public universities," he said while officiating the opening ceremony of the workshop.

Muhamad said, many local universities would prefer to progress around their own agenda or establish various cooperation with foreign universities without realising that the public universities in Malaysia in actuality possess the expertise in various research areas.

“It is a norm for those within the local community to find preference in having cooperation with foreign universities when the research expertise they sought has always been available locally, moreover with the government’s wish to push forward and thrust the higher education sector, it is essential for us to cooperate in identifying the resources and recognising the importance of conducting research in a collaborative manner,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Organising Chairperson of the Collaborative Research Workshop who is also the Director of the Centre for Research Initiatives-Clinical Science and Health (CRI-CSH), USM Health Campus, Professor Dr. Nik Soriani Yaacob said, this workshop which is held for the first time was also aimed at identifying research areas which could be the focus and strength of a university.

“Apart from that, the workshop too would be a platform for discussions to initiate cooperation among the public universities in generating meaningful research and establishing long-term collaborations,” she said.

She further stressed, USM would continue to oversee the efforts to ensure that this collaboration would proceed to a greater degree with the involvement of South-East Asian universities.

Others who attended the workshop were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) UMK, Professor Dr. Ahmad Kamal Harun; representative for Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) UMT, Associate Professor Dr. Wan Mohd Khairul Wan Mohamed Zin; and representative for Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) UniSZA, Professor Dr. Barzani Gasim.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Text: Nik Sheila Erini Che Mat Kamel/Photo: Wan Mohd Rashidi Wan Mood​