KUALA LUMPUR: TAN Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday called on local scientists and academics to continue producing high-impact research that can spur the nation’s development.
The deputy prime minister said such contributions to the nation embodied the true spirit of independence, which would bring meaning to future generations.
“In the spirit of Merdeka, our struggle may not be the same as those before us, who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the country.
“Our task today is to protect the country’s independence by ensuring its continued development, peace and prosperity,” he said when launching a book on the work of researchers funded by Universiti Malaya’s High Impact Research (HIR) programme here.
The book, High Impact Research — Touching Lives, Impacting Society chronicles the exemplary work and breakthroughs in fields such as cancer and dengue research, which were funded by the HIR programme, launched in 2011.
HIR, which has received a RM590 million Education Ministry grant for its first five years, currently funds 192 research projects in various disciplines, including medicine, science and engineering.
Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, praised HIR’s performance, which has seen it reach 82 per cent of its achievement targets in its first four years.
These included, he said, the programme’s ability to attract academic icons and Nobel Prize winners, such as University of Western Australia clinical microbiology professor Barry Marshall, Riken president Prof Noyori Ryoji, California Institute of Technology president Emeritus Prof David Baltimore and New England Biolabs chief scientific officer Prof Richard Roberts.
“I am confident that this initiative’s accomplishments — which was measured through the publication of papers, patents, academic icons and bright sparks — will help UM and the government’s efforts to spur more high-impact research.”
He called on researchers to continue publishing their findings in academic journals, such as Web of Science (Tier 1), so that they may become the primary reference source for local and foreign scholars, as well as contribute to making UM a world-class institution.
As the best research university in Malaysia, he said, UM needed to produce work that could spur Malaysia’s growth and development.
“This includes producing high-quality graduates, creating jobs in competitive fields, raising the number of patents to be commercialised, and attracting more academic minds to high-impact research.”
Researchers from other institutions, he said, were encouraged to make use of the high-technology equipment at UM’s High-Impact Research Building.
“Such acts of knowledge-sharing will strengthen the network of cooperation between researchers, as well as ensure that we are able to maximise our resources.”
Present were Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang and UM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Amin Jalaluddin.