MOSP Signing Ceremony

On 14 July 2022, a collaboration agreement signing ceremony for the Malaysia Open Science Platform (MOSP) pilot project was organized by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM).

This agreement was signed between five research universities and ASM for the development of MOSP. The rationale behind MOSP is to consolidate raw research data which is a national asset following the FAIR principle  (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable). The first five research universities are expected to be the pioneer for better research practice and efficient research management through MOSP.

The representatives from each university were:

1. Professor Dr Abrizah Abdullah (Dean, Institute for Advanced Studies, Universiti Malaya)
2. Professor Dr Md Roslan Hashim (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Sustainability and Development Institution, Universiti Sains Malaysia)
3. Professor Ts Dr Muhammad Rahimi Yusop (Director, Center for Research and Instrumentation Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
4. Professor Dr Nazamid Saari (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation, Universiti Putra Malaysia)
5. Professor Ts Dr Abd Latif Saleh (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)

ASM was represented by Puan Hazami Habib, the Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

The ceremony began with a welcoming speech from Professor Emerita Datuk Dr Asma Ismail, the President of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia followed by a speech from Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Professor Emerita Datuk Dr Asma Ismail highlighted MOSP pilot project achievements and expressed her gratitude towards all parties who is involved in the development of the project.

Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba stressed the benefits as well as the vision and mission of MOSP. He also mentioned that MOSP would be ready and launched in December 2022. He acknowledged the concerns raised by the parties involved in data sharing and emphasized on open science tagline, “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”.

MOSP has also successfully produced the national guidelines on open science in publicly funded research as a reference for a better open science practice in Malaysia.

The collaboration signing was witnessed by Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan, Secretary General, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Emerita Datuk Dr Asma Ismail, President Academy of Sciences Malaysia and Professor Chm Dr Noorsaadah Abd Rahman, Chair, Malaysia Open Science Alliance.

It is predicted that more universities and research institutes will be joining MOSP for raw research data sharing starting in the second half of 2023. It is hoped that having a research data-sharing ecosystem and practice, it would make crisis-solving a faster process for the nation.

This article was published first on the MOSP website. To know more about the event, please read the news coverage by Astro Awani and BERNAMA.