PENANG, 26 October 2017 – It was a truly joyous evening for 51 postgraduate students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) upon being awarded Fellowships by the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail.

The recipients were feted at the USM Fellowship Award 2017 ceremony, which acknowledged their efforts and perseverance in pursuing their studies at the Master’s and PhD levels.  

By being selected for this fellowship, the candidates would gain certain benefits, which would be useful in the completion of their research and thesis. One of the criteria set by the USM Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS) was for the candidate to have achieved a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with a CGPA ≥ 3.50 from any local or foreign university.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Dean of IPS Professor Dr. Azman Samsudin stated that postgraduate education serves as an important investment in the context of Malaysian education, as it could bring many advantages to Malaysians and also students from other countries.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowship Award was awarded to Sanjida Haque from Bangladesh. She is currently doing research in Orthodontics. She has produced 29 publications while studying for her Master’s, which is the highest number of publications among the recipients. In view of her achievement, her tuition and examination fees would be waived, while also receiving a monthly allowance from USM.

Meanwhile, a visually-impaired candidate, Noorilham Ismail, is another recipient of this fellowship award. He majors in History and is currently in the process of completing his thesis entitled 'Dasar Amerika Syarikat di Tanah Melayu dalam Tempoh Darurat 1948-1960'.

He said that despite of his disabilities, he was blessed with very good friends around him, to help in reading books and notes and most importantly his lecturer, Dr. Mohd Zakaria who always supports and helps him in his studies. During the event, Nurilham was accompanied by his fiancé, Ms Zarifah who always helped him in reading journal and articles in order for him to complete his assignments and thesis.

At the ceremony, Asma also shared some information to the postgraduate students. The Ministry of Higher Education has allowed the awarding of GRA (Graduate Research Assistant) to the international students. As a result, the Ministry of Higher Education will provide funds for USM in order to help them in their research and thesis.

The ceremony also saw the attendance of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) (Academic and International) Professor Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah; DVC (Research and Innovation), Professor Dato’ Dr. Muhamad Jantan and Deputy Registrar IPS, Roslan Ismail.

Text: Nur Fatini Badrul Hisham (MPRC intern)/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin