USM PENANG, 27 January 2024 – The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Institute of Nano Optoelectronics Research and Technology (INOR) has recently added another feather to its cap when it receives the recognition by the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) as a Higher Education Centre of Excellence (HICoE) for 2023 Phase 1, making INOR the fourth HICoE at USM.

The announcement on the recognition, which was posted on the Facebook account of the USM Division of Research and Innovation (R&I) in the middle of this month, is a follow-up to the application and site visit conducted by the assessment panel and secretariat from the Department of Higher Education (JPT) in December 2021.

INOR is now listed alongside a few other research institutes at USM which have been acknowledged as HICoE previously, namely the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine [INFORMM] (2010), Centre for Drug Research [CDR] (2010), and River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre [REDAC] (2015).

The recognition of HICoE is part of a programme to drive excellence in research centres at higher educational institutions (IPT) conducting research in niche areas. The recognition will be awarded to a centre of excellence (COE) in any aforementioned research area.

A HICoE will continue to produce impactful outcomes in the form of new talents in research, high-impact journal publications and producing innovations that would be beneficial to the academia, industry, government, community and those within the vicinity. The capacity to achieve all the targets would form the basis in the disbursement of future research funds.

Activities at INOR focus on research and development (R&D) efforts in the fields of nanosciences, nanomaterials, nanofabrication and nanoengineering, serving as intellectual and technological bridging in the production of nano optoelectronic devices and systems.

The laboratory facilities and equipment for research run by INOR are among the most modern and innovative at USM, which have the capacity to develop, fabricate and design nano-scaled optoelectronic and electronic devices.

At the same time, INOR offers academic programmes in the form of PhD and MSc (Optoelectronics) research mode in the field of nanotechnology. A mixed mode MSc (Nano-Optoelectronics) programme is also offered by INOR.

Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin