Page 10 - Handbook Postgraduate (Master) 2016 2017 BI

GENERAL INFORMATION

University of Malaya

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The University of Malaya (UM) was the first university established in Malaya on 8 October 1949 with the merger of the
King Edward VII College of Medicine (established in 1905) and the Raffles College (established in 1928). Its establishment
accelerated the advancement of education in Malaya and led to the founding of two autonomous branches in Singapore and
Kuala Lumpur in 1956. In order to enhance higher education in both countries, there was a need to upgrade the branches to
national university status. Thus, with the passing of the Parliament Act in 1961, the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur was
officially recognized as a national university on 1 January 1962. Since then, Malaysia (Joining of Singapore, Sabah and
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Sarawak in 1963) has undergone a myriad of educational transformations. In line with this, the University of Malaya has
continually stepped up efforts of becoming an internationally renowned institution of higher learning in research, innovation,
publication and teaching.
To achieve this vision, the University of Malaya is supported by the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC),
the biggest and the first research teaching hospital in Malaysia, two academies, twelve faculties, four institutes and three
centers that comprehensively encompass medicine, science, technology, the social sciences and the humanities. In addition,
six research clusters have also been established to place the University at the forefront of new knowledge and discoveries.
Furthermore, the University of Malaya continues to place heavy emphasis on research through the establishment of centers
of excellence. On 11 October 2006, the University of Malaya was recognized by the Ministers‟ Council as a research
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university among the five public universities. On 26 January 2012, the University of Malaya was granted autonomy status
by the Ministry of Education (now known as the Ministry of Higher Education). The success of the University of Malaya in
research management, was captured through the audit process based upon the Malaysian Research Assessment Instrument
II (MyRA II) by the Ministry of Higher Education. The University of Malaya was found to be the „Best Research University in
Malaysia with the Highest Marks' on 1 December 2013.
With the nation‟s aspirations as its guide, the University of Malaya continues to strengthen its status in the
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academic world, both within the country and internationally. It has been ranked 146 in the 2015/16 QS World University
Ranking and 27 in the 2016 QS Asian University Ranking. The University of Malaya is also the only university in Malaysia
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listed in the top 500 Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong, China. These accomplishments have
endorsed the University of Malaya as the best university in Malaysia. On 6 May 2014, another international recognition was
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achieved when the University of Malaya became the only institution of higher learning in the country to be awarded a 5 star
rating by the QS Stars Ratings. The University of Malaya has also been named as a University of Choice by the Reader‟s
Digest Trusted Brand for seven consecutive years from 2007 until 2013. With that record, the University of Malaya was
awarded the Platinum Award for the Public University Category on 27 May 2014. The thrust of the university‟s contribution to
academia as well as society is through teaching, research, publication, innovation and commercialization.
In keeping the university on par with international universities, the University of Malaya has collaborated with
renowned research institutes and universities from 71 countries. Some of its active global partners are:

University of Cambridge Beijing Foreign Studies University
Harvard University Tsinghua University
Kyoto University National University of Singapore
University of Sydney National Taiwan University
Queen Mary, University of London Yale University
Queen‟s University, Belfast University of Hyderabad

Another landmark was in February 2010 when the University established the „University of Malaya High Impact
Research (UM HIR)‟and provided RM10 million from its internal funds to promote fundamental research which will lead to
Tier 1 ISI/WoS publications. Recognizing the importance of UM as a premier research institution in the country, the Ministry
of Higher Education (MoHE) allocated RM590 million for the UM-MOHE HIR programme for a period of 5 years from August
2011 until June 2016.
To date, UM has appointed four Nobel Fellows and two Distinguished Fellows as members of the UM HIR
Advisory Council. They are Nobel Fellow Professor Barry Marshall (Physiology or Medicine), Nobel Fellow Professor Ryoji
Noyori (Chemistry), Nobel Fellow Professor David Baltimore (Physiology or Medicine), Nobel Fellow Sir Richard Roberts
(Physiology or Medicine), Distinguished Professor Rita Colwell (University of Maryland, USA) and Distinguished Professor
Wong Chi-Huey (Academia Sinica, Taiwan).

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