University of Malaya (UM) held a signing ceremony of dual PhD programme agreement between itself and University of Nottingham on January 24. The agreement will enable candidates pursuing PhD under this programme to be awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from UM and University of Nottingham each upon graduation.
The agreement was signed by Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohd Amin Jalaludin, Vice-Chancellor of UM and Professor Christine Ennew, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and witnessed by Professor Datin Dr. Norhanom Abdul Wahab, Dean of the Institute of Graduate Studies (IPS) and Professor Graham Kendall Vice-Provost (Research & Knowledge Transfer), The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
Talks to initiate this dual PhD programme began in 2011 when Professor Christine Ennew visited UM and subsequent to several meetings with representatives from Nottingham, the Faculty of Medicine, UM took up the proposal and identified potential candidates. Under the programme, candidates will register at both institutions and spend at least 18 months at University of Nottingham and at least one year at UM.
“I am delighted that we are able to offer a dual PhD with University Malaya; this important initiative provides individual students with the opportunity to study in a genuinely international environment and for our institutions it provides an opportunity to extend existing research collaborations and develop new ones,” said Prof Ennew.
The candidates will pay pro-rate tuition fees for the time spent at each Institution and supervised by co-supervisors appointed by each Institution. The Dual PhD Programme Agreement with the University of Nottingham was presented and approved at the UM Senate on 24 October 2013.
Dato’ Dr. Mohd Amin said that programmes such as the dual PhD indirectly benefited both institutions as the programme has produced better cooperation in terms of transfer of knowledge and joint publication.
“The student and supervisors from both institutions act as the conduit for collaborative projects that go beyond the duration of the programme. In essence, the collaborative project is a win-win situation because both universities will have a long-term collaborative relationship that keeps growing even after the students graduated.”
“UM is also very pleased to have this agreement with University of Nottingham that is a world-renowned institutions and ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. I hope the candidates selected from this programme can reap the full benefit of studying under both UM and University of Nottingham.”
According to Professor Dr. Norhanom, UM has been engaging with internationally renowned institutions for dual PhD programme since 2009 starting with the University of Sydney and followed by the Liverpool John Moores University. As of 2014, five candidates successfully completed the programme where two candidates graduated last year while the other three expected to graduate this year.
She added that programmes are tailor-made according to the requirements of each institution which benefited not only the institutions but also the candidates. For Malaysians, the candidates spend less money through this programme as compared with studying full-time at the partner institution. To assist the candidates further on financial matters, IPS initiated the Dual PhD Fund that can support candidates who are qualified for the assistance.
“I was involved in a previous version of this scheme, where I was fortunate enough to supervise a number of PhD students from Malaysia. It was that program that enabled me to visit Malaysia and eventually work here. This revised scheme offers even more opportunities and working with the University of Malaya provides students with the opportunity to work with two world class institutions, which should lead to a broad variety of exciting research programs,” said Professor Kendall.
About University of Malaya (UM)
The University of Malaya (UM) is the first university to be established in Malaysia. Since its establishment in 1905, UM has produced over 160,000 graduates at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is a multidisciplinary Research University with more than 25,000 students. An additional 2,316 students are enrolled in programmes offered by the University of Malaya Centre for Continuing Education (UMCCed). At present, the University has 2 academies, 12 faculties, 4 institutes, 5 centres, 12 Residential Colleges and the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), the biggest research hospital in the Nation.
In tandem with the tagline “The Leader in Research and Innovation”, UM has successfully produced renowned and illustrious luminaries and intellectuals including Prime Ministers, members of the cabinet, top civil servants, diplomats and leaders in industries. Over the decades, UM’s researchers have been on the leading edge of numerous momentous research advances. However, since being accorded the Research University status by the Malaysian government in 2006, a flurry of new initiatives for research, development and innovation have taken place in UM.
As part of its contribution to the National Higher Education Strategic Plan, UM is aiming to be a World Top 100 University by 2015.Towards this end, UM is gearing up to be a major global player in research, innovation, publication and teaching. Initiatives are taken and strategies are formulated to expand its research agenda to 2015 and beyond to be a truly a world class Research University.
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More information is available from Mohd. Julian Borhanudin, University of Malaya on julianicr@um.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus on + 6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in theUnited Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’,according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK’s Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its research into global food security.
Impact:The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 27th January 2014