PENANG, 14 January 2016 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will continue to provide an ecosystem of excellence for the development in Research and Innovation (R&I) to function as pathways for academicians to move forward in various areas of expertise that transcend disciplines.

The USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman said, currently USM is an active partner to many established entities all over the world, be they individuals or institutions across various disciplines which have been widely recognised.

“For example, USM has taken the initiative of establishing the Malaysian Research Universities-Thailand Research Universities (MRUN-TRU) Research Consortium which is in line with the formation of the ASEAN community, becoming the first of its kind to bring together researchers from universities in Malaysia and Thailand,” added Omar.

He further explained that, this would open opportunities for long-term research collaborations together to be expanded among the ASEAN countries.

In addition, USM has also established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) such as the USM Centre for Global Archaeological Research (PPAG) which has achieved fame and success across the many borders with its numerous discoveries. One of them would be the Sungai Batu Archaeological Research site in Kedah, with the findings of iron-smelting activities at the Sungai Batu site dating back to 535 BC. This discovery has resulted in the Kedah Tua civilisation being recognised as the oldest civilisation in South-East Asia, simultaneously turning the Sungai Batu site into one of the tourist attractions for Visit Kedah Year 2016, with the Kedah state government allocating RM300,000 for the upkeep of the site to become a tourism site in the state.

PPAG USM has also conducted scientific cooperation together with South Korea, where PPAG USM has been given the privilege to put on display the Paleolithic culture of Malaysia at the Jeongok Prehistoric Festival.

In fact, the research in Archaeology at Gandhara, Pakistan which was led by PPAG USM has confirmed the presence of a Buddhist site at the University of Peshawar campus and the completion of the data on the Gandhara civilisation.

Meanwhile, the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman said, the success attained by PPAG USM at the global stage has provided itself with the merit as acknowledgement and recognition for the work initiated by USM.

“Success after success have been established by PPAG USM, which could serve as the indicator of how USM has prepared itself to become a Global University,” he explained during the presentation of the Annual Address titled ‘APEX 2020: Realising a Global University’ (Merealisasikan Universiti Global) to over 1,000 USM staff members here recently.

The event was also attended by member of the University Board of Governors (LGU) Professor Datuk Dr. Omar Shawkataly, Deputy Vice-Chancellors of USM, the Registrar, the Bursar as well as key university officials.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Teks: Syuhada Abd. Aziz / Foto: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa