Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) plans to increase the enrolment of post-graduate students to 30 per cent of total students population or 10,000 and to cap undergraduate numbers at 20,000

New Sunday Times,

Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository

UPM wantsqualitygraduatesPUTTING UPM ON GLOBAL MAP: Zohadie chatting with aforeign student at a recent event.UNIVERSITI PutraMalaysia (UPM)plans to increasethe enrolment ofpost-graduatestudentsto30percentoftotalstudentpopu-lation or 10,000and to capundergraduatenumbersat20,000.The moveis in line withraising undergraduatecompetencyand UPM's in-ternational profile throughtheincreasein collaborativeresearchwith foreign uni-versities and with foreignpost-graduatestudents."We want to focus onproducing quality in ourundergraduatestudentsandwe aim to increaseour re-searchactivitiesat thepost-graduate level," said vice-chancellorDatukDr Ir MohdZohadieBardaie.His mission, to developMalaysia'spoolofintellectualcapital and placeUPM onthe global map, was in-tended to correct the per-ceptionof Malaysia'spublicuniversities.The university wants tomaintainits polepositioninreceivingthe Government-funded Intensification ofResearchin Priority Areas(IRPA) grant, which hadamountedto RM153.5mil-lion for UPM from 2001toOctober2003.Most of the funding isdirected at science andtechnologyresearchin bio-science, engineering andcomputersciences.His goal is to transformUPM into a renownedre-search university by insti-tutingspecialprogrammestoachievea Nobel prize. Itsaim is also to attain recog-nition as a nationallabora-toryandreferralcentre."We are openingup theuniversity to foreign stu-dents.The purposeofthis isnot for the immediatefi-nancing of the university'soperationsbut toattractthebestbrains in the world toMalaysia,"hesays.By completingtheir post-graduatestudieshere, for-eign studentscontributetoUPM's researchand devel-opment(R&D) that enablesthe university to operatewith some financial inde-pendence.The university supple-ments the public grantswhich it receives,with rev-enuefromthe commerciali-sationofits R&D andsellingits expertisethrough con-sultancyservices.U~M'splan is to generatesufficientincomeby 2005tocover20 per centof its ex-penses and the target by2010is 30percent."In 2003,wehadmanagedto cover16 per cent,so weare movingin the right di-rection and looking at thetrend we shouldbe abletomeetthetarget,"headds."Wearecreatinga holdingcompany to manage ourfindings.As an indicationofourprogress,in 2003wehad18productscommercialised,"'headded.Bringingforeignstudentsin increasestheeffectivenessofUPM's researchgroups,hesaid.The US had attracted"the best brains" from allovertheworld andhad giv-en studentsresearchassis-tanceas theyworkedat theuniversities,headded."Thebenefitis,wegetourresearchdone,"says MohdZohadie.And the long-termgoalisfor UPM to establishgloballinkagesasforeigngraduatesreferto,their almamaterfortheir future commercialneedsanddealings."Malaysia has strongbusiness and educationallinks with the UK becausemany Malaysianshad beentrainedthere.Overthelongterm,we wantto createournetwork links all over theworld by virtue of havinggiven training to foreignstudents in Malaysia," headds.There are 7,000 post-graduatestudentsof which869 students are from 50countries,mostlyAsean."A big groupis emergingfromWestAsia - Jordan,Sudan,Iran andIraq- andthe.numbersare increasingas a result of the Sept 11,2001 incident in the US.Mter the US and UK uni-versities, Malaysian uni-versitiesare next preferredin thosecountries,"hesays.This is owing to Malay-sia's post-graduate pro-grammes being taught inEnglish. Most West Asianstudents are English con-versant.UPM's R&D collaborationincludesforeignuniversities.Several Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU)agreementswereconcludedin 2003with the Universityof MassachusettsAmherst,the US; University of Joen-suu,Finland; SouthDakotaState University, the US;and with Thamar Univer-sity,Yemen.Working with KyotoUniversity in Japan, UPM'sInstitute of Gerontologyisacclaimedto be the first ofits kind in SoutheastAsia.TheInstituteaimstobecomea referencecentre for thestudyoftheagedandageingin theregion.

UPM wants quality graduates

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository