Government to launch plan to produce more researchers - Star

GEORGE TOWN: Sept 5, 2008

The “MyBrain15” programme, a critical agenda under the National Higher Education Strategic Plan to produce 100,000 researchers and PhD holders in 15 years, will be launched this month.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who disclosed this yesterday, said the country now only had about 8,000 PhD holders.

“We will work with all universities to achieve our target,” he told reporters yesterday after attending Intel’s fellowship and research grant award ceremony at Intel Penang’s plant in Bayan Lepas near here. Intel Malaysia gave out 15 research and four fellowship grants worth more than RM834,200 to postgraduate students and faculty members from five local universities at the ceremony.

Khaled, who did not gave the exact date of the launching, said the programme included sending lecturers to do their PhDs.

In his speech earlier, he said the programme would provide the necessary incentives to produce the 100,000 researchers and PhD holders within the targeted timeframe.

Khaled commended Intel for providing grants to the postgraduate students and local university faculties to conduct research and hoped more companies would follow suit.

“It is inadequate to solely depend on the Government for research and development. We really need the industry to play a role to engage universities in R&D,” he said.

He said the level of research and development in the country was “not up to expectation”, adding that the country would end up being only consumers if it did not discover new products.

Khaled also said Malaysia aimed to aspire in research and development in niche areas that it was strong in such as Islamic finance, halal food and tropical medicine.

Intel Malaysia managing director Atul Bhargava said Intel had given out more than 70 research grants and 38 fellowship grants since the company introduced its Higher Education Programme in 1997.