Impact Study of the Implementation of Research Universities

ASM has been commissioned by the Ministry of Education in Nov 2017 for duration of six months, to carry out an impact study of the implementation of Research Universities in Malaysia.

This impact study is continuity in the series of studies that have been previously carried out by the Ministry of Education through the Malaysia Research University Network (MRUN). The present study is helmed by ASM Fellow from the Social Sciences and Humanities Discipline Group, Professor Dr Mahendhiran Sanggaran Nair FASc and is carried out with the following objectives:

1. To re-evaluate the role, impact and direction of MRUs.
2. To provide a critical analysis of current achievements, performance, issues, challenges and gaps.
3. To provide a comparative overview of global impacts and outcomes of similar universities abroad.
4. To provide recommendations to strengthen the internal research ecosystems of the MRUs.
5. To propose a strategic framework to strengthen research collaborations between MRUs, to capture knowledge network externalities that will enhance the national innovation ecosystem and Malaysia’s global competitiveness.

Malaysian Research Universities (MRUs) were established in 2007 in Malaysia to help spearhead R&D and innovation to assist the country to become an innovation-driven and competitive economy. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) have been recognised as a Research University in 2006, while Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was recognised in 2010.

MRUs have recorded positive impact across multiple fields, including an improved PhD intake as well as quality; local, regional and global recognition of MRU researchers by various organisations; increased employability; and also increased collaborations with international bodies resulting in numerous academic publications with international co-authorship.

In addition, the resulting researches carried out in MRUs have also been translated into various real-world applications that benefitted the country. Furthermore, MRUs are also slowly rising in prominence in global rankings, aside from recording a higher return on investment.

It has been slightly more than 10 years now since the establishment of MRUs. Continuous assessments have been carried out over the period to maintain the research excellence culture, develop the right talent and enhance socioeconomic development of the nation. But how have our MRUs been performing in comparison to other well-established research universities across the globe over these years? This is a key question that will be addressed in this report which will be submitted to MOE by the end of May 2019.