University of Surrey welcomes senior Malaysian Government delegation and cements strategic partnerships with Malaysian universities

Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad, Minister of Higher Education in the Malaysian Government, together with the Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of five Malaysian universities and a delegation of government officials are visiting the University's campus to see first-hand the products of existing relationships between the University of Surrey and universities and students in Malaysia, and to sign two new Memoranda of Understanding between the University of Surrey and the Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Universiti Malaysia Perlis.  

The new agreements will: 

• deepen and extend world-leading research collaborations, building on existing partnerships including a joint research project with the Universiti Putra Malaysia that has supported sustainability by driving action to tackle human/animal conflict 

• seek to extend opportunities for dual degrees 

• support recruitment of high-quality postgraduate students and further staff and student exchange opportunities  

• support joint research funding applications between academics at the University of Surrey and its partner universities in Malaysia. 

Professor Max Lu, President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Surrey, said: 

"The University of Surrey's focus on global research and education transforms lives and changes the world for the better, and these endeavours are strengthened by international partnerships. We're delighted to welcome our esteemed guests from the Malaysian government today and to sign these Memoranda of Understanding to deepen our collaborations with our partners at the universities of Putra Malaysia and Malaysia Perlis. 

"Such collaborations will help us to both enhance the international reach and impact of our world-class research and to support the Malaysian government higher education priorities set out in their Malaysia Education Blueprint. Our successful joint work on the Animal Neighbours Project is a great example of Surrey's research making a positive real-world impact on grand challenges such as sustainability and biodiversity.  

"We welcome our guests from Malaysia in the week we have launched our new Medical School. We look forward to welcoming Malaysian students to this innovative course designed to deliver the doctors of the future – by combining an outstanding core medical teaching experience with the benefits of working alongside our multi-disciplinary research capabilities  – for example, through our Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence and 5G-6G Innovation Centre." 

Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad, Minister of Higher Education in the Malaysian Government, added: 

"Through sharing expertise, knowledge and technology, developing staff professionally and academically, and promotion and delivery of training and other opportunities for students and staff, I hope the signing of these MoUs between Malaysian universities and the University of Surrey can strengthen the internationalisation of higher education in both countries". 

University of Surrey relationships with Malaysia include: 

• The successful Animal Neighbours Project, in conjunction with the University of Surrey Vet School, working with Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia, which engaged communities with projects to reduce human/wildlife conflict, and has gone on to receive additional funding to support Malaysia graduates in Zoology, Conservation, Environmental Science and other relevant disciplines to take work-related to conservation rather than go on to unrelated fields – supporting sustainability and protecting wildlife. 

• A Research England Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) project in collaboration with the University Malaysia Sarawak looking at the development of point of care biomarkers for cardiac diseases in low healthcare resource settings.  

• Existing and extended partnerships in education and research with Malaysian institutions as covered by the Memoranda of Understanding signed today: from formalising our research collaborations with Universiti Putra Malaysia with an intention to develop student exchange activities and dual degree programmes, to building on our student exchange agreement with Universiti Malaya to facilitate multi-disciplinary research collaborations, staff and student exchange programmes, joint grant applications and opportunities for recruitment of high-quality postgraduate and post-doctoral students and researchers. 

• Publication of 415 University of Surrey and Malaysian co-authored research papers from 38 institutions over the last 5 years. 

• Currently counting 68 Malaysian students amongst our multicultural student community. 

Dr Kamalan Jeevaratnam, Head of the University of Surrey's Department of Veterinary Pre-Clinical Sciences and Associate Dean, International in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, said: 

"We are delighted as an institution to be able to continue to grow our One Health-One Medicine agenda with Malaysian higher education institutions. Our intention is to build long-term, permanent relationships that are both sustainable in terms of inter-institutional longevity and innovative in our approach to interdisciplinary collaborations".     

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Notes to Editors: 

• The University of Surrey is a research-intensive university, producing world-leading research that transforms lives and changes the world for the better. Challenges the University's research capabilities focus on include sustainability; ensuring artificial intelligence is not just technically pushing boundaries, but remains people-centred in the way it operates, develops and is governed; and pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the ways human and animal health overlap, interact and share common problems and solutions – within a 'One Health, One Medicine' research approach. Surrey also demonstrates established research excellence in space technologies, telecommunications (5G and now 6G) and hospitality and tourism. A focus on research that makes a difference to the world has contributed to Surrey being ranked 55th in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2022, which assesses more than 1,400 universities' performance against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).