Page 14 - IAS Handbook

Higher Institution Centre of

Excellence (HICoE)

In support of the third thrust of the National Higher Education

Strategic Plan (NHESP) and moving towards gearing up the level

of the country's research and development (R&D) and innovation,

the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) finds that there is a need

to recognise the potential centres of excellence (CoEs) in Higher

Education Institutions (HEIs) in order to further leap them

towards internationalisation. The recognition of HICoE by MOHE

is to identify the best of the best CoE in HEIs at the national level.

The first evaluation exercise of HICoE was undertaken in 2008.
Universiti Malaya Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC)

From 142 applications, 6 CoEs in 5 public HEIs have met the

Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES) stringent requirements. With the approval of the Cabinet, on the

recommendation of MoHE, the approved CoEs were formally

Photonic Research Centre Universiti Malaya (PRCUM) designated to be HICoE on 30th October 2009. The efforts of

identifying and acknowledging the achievement of CoEs in HEIs
Tropical Infectious Research and Education Centre (TIDREC)

will encourage them to work towards becoming a global leader in

Centre for Research inBiotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) their research niche areas. Thus, HICoE will be supported and

facilitated by MoHE so that they will become the focused vehicles

Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT)
that will drive the R&D and innovation agenda, particularly in

fundamental research, as well as contributing to human capital
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development.