Saturday, October 10, 2009

Public, Private Universities Receive RM25 Million Research Grants

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- The government has allocated RM25 million under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) to sponsor 602 projects undertaken by public and private universities this year.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said 20 researchers from public universities and three from private universities received the sponsorship this year.

He said public universities had been allocated with RM23.63 million to carry out 411 projects while private universities received RM1.41 million to bring 191 projects to fruition.

The grants were channelled through the Education Ministry, the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, he told reporters at the International Exposition of Research and Invention of Institutions of Higher Learning 2009 (PECIPTA 2009) award presentation here on Friday.

He said the FRGS research focused on pure science, applied science, engineering and technology, medical science, social science and humanities, arts and professional arts and natural sciences, and national heritage.

Universiti Malaya was adjudged the winner of the Premier Research Award, having clinched four gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals in PECIPTA 2009.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) came in a close second with four gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals.

PECIPTA 2009 with the theme "Driving Research Innovation Towards Value Creation" scrutinised 465 research submitted by 22 public and private universities.

It was jointly held by Higher Education Ministry and Universiti Malaya to spur innovations by local universities.

-- BERNAMA

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