PENANG, 22 May 2015 - As Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) establishes itself in its academic standing and rankings, it is also active in pursuing and welcomes collaborations with many other institutions around the world.

USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman highlighted this in delivering his welcoming remarks and presentation on USM to the delegates from the Czech Republic.

The delegate members comprised of His Excellency Mr. Rudolf Hykl, the Czech Ambassador who also heads the delegation, the Deputy Head of Delegation, Mr. David Jarkulisch and representatives from seven, top ranking universities in the Czech Republic.

The main agenda of the official visit by the delegates was to discuss on the various means of expanding their scope internationally. The main areas of collaboration among others include nanotechnology, engineering, mechatronics, informatics, health and medicine, natural sciences and other scientific fields, as well as fine arts and interdisciplinary studies.

In his introductory speech, His Excellency Mr. Rudolf Hykl also hoped that such collaborations would be means to diversify relations, which can be in the form of cooperation, networking, research work and staff/student exchange.

“We would also look at other more spontaneous efforts and to establish long-term contacts, in order to sustain such ecosystems,” he added. The Czech Republic universities represented were Brno University of Technology, University of Pardubice, University of Hradec Kralove, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Charles University Prague, Palacky University Olomouc and Technical University of Liberec.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) USM, Professor Dato’ Dr. Muhamad Jantan also put emphasis on the availability of HICoEs and CoEs under USM, as well as the research areas which are given plenty of focus, such as sustainability, environmental science and biodiversity.

The USM Vice-Chancellor summed up the discussion with words of support for the Deans and representatives from the Schools and Centres within USM, affirming their commitment towards initiating the various opportunities for collaboration with the Czech Republic universities.

Others who attended the session include the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) USM, Professor Dato' Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community Network) USM, Professor Dato’ Dr. See Ching Mey; Deans and Directors representing the various Schools and Centres in USM, invited guests and key university officials. - Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin