VIRTUAL HANDING OVER SPLIT-SITE PROGRAMME BETWEEN UNIVERSITI MALAYA AND UNIVERSITAS SYIAH KUALA

Universiti Malaya celebrated on the fruition of a new collaboration with Universitas Syiah Kuala (Unsyiah) on the Collaborative Programme (Split-Site) on the 4 November 2020.

This milestone is part of Universiti Malaya commitment in capacity building within the region where the agreement provides opportunities for academic staff at Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Aceh to pursue their PhD. The beauty of this program is that it allows them to undertake some of their research at an approved location away from the University and this is aptly relevant where students are not able to travel due to the pandemic. UM standing as the top 60 university in world ranking by QS was a criteria given by the Agency for Developing Human Resources Development (BPSDM) of Aceh to participate in the collaboration with Unsyiah. The chosen candidates under this program will receive scholarships provided by the Government of Aceh.

In a simple virtual handing over event chaired by Professor Dr. Kamila Ghazali, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), Universiti Malaya together with the Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs of Universitas Syiah Kuala, Professor Dr. Ir. Marwan, a symbolic launch of the collaboration between both parties was held and witnessed by Professor Dr. Yong Zulina Zubairi, Associate Vice-Chancellor (International), Faculty Deans, Supervisors, PhD candidates and other UM and Unsyiah representatives who were present.

In this first batch, a total of 6 candidates are registered at the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Law, and Faculty of Built Environment. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), thanked Unsyiah for their support in which the idea of collaboration was first mooted in her courtesy visit to Banda Aceh, Indonesia way back in late 2018.

The journey of Universiti Malaya-Universitas Syiah Kuala collaboration up to this day has been rewarding and we would like to thank Unsyiah for this great opportunity and we look forward to more collaborations in the coming year.