In aligment with UM's aspiration to be the preferred partner in research and champions in leading interdisciplinary research, Research Cluster will focus on research areas with promising perfomances and experts-ready with critical mass (Niche) and emerging areas (Thrust). These Niche and Thrust areas were selected based on the analysis of data on UM's past research output, expressed research interest of different faculties and research centres, deliberations in a series of meetings/ workshops, national needs and international trends.
Niche Areas
Energy:
Energy is a key area where UM researchers have shown great strength in terms of research productivity. Researchers in different faculties and research centres are contributing to diverse topics including biofuel, solar energy, energy management, energy efficiency, battery etc. Researchers are encouraged to propose research by integrating different disciplines. IISS aims to bring energy researchers on a common platform to address important energy challenges in a collaborative manner.
Materials:
Materials have been another significant strength of UM researchers in different faculties and research centres. Materials underpin innovation in almost all other areas of technologies. Materials research at UM includes wide ranging materials such as functional materials and sensors, structural materials, electronic materials, biomaterials, energy materials etc. IISS intends to bring researchers with different materials background to work on innovative material solutions to industrial problems.
Thrust Areas
Industrial 4.0
Industry 4.0, combining physical and cyber systems, has the potential to change our lives in unprecedented ways. UM rersearchers have been working on different elements of I4.0 in isolated ways. IISS will bring together researchers from computer science and information technology, engineering, business and economics to work on innovative projects
Water & Environment:
Research on developing strategies and technologies for quality, prediction, prevention and protection of water resources and environment are of particular interest. Investigations on the effects of global warming/ climate change on the environment and the effects of anthropogenic activities on climate change will also be highlighted.
Sustainable Living:
Research on promoting and adopting a lifestyle that aims to reduce the use of natural resources by developing new technologies such as green technologies renewable energy are increasing among the UM researchers. It aims to foster interdsciplinary research to meet the challenges and promote solutions of sustainable development for the society.
Niche Area
Nature Inspired Research: Driving Drug Discovery
Malaysia is a megadiverse country (top 20), with a potentially near limitless source of exploitable natural compounds/ products. Over the past 5 years, publications from UM in drug discovery, particularly focusing on natural products, averaged at ~350 articles per year, covering a wide variety of research fields. Clearly, the process of drug discovery amalgamates research from multiple fields to achieve its goals. We have the critical mass in terms of equipment and research expertise to excel in this field. As a niche area, we hope to push drug discovery in UM and progress from only identifying bioactive compounds to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of how these compunds work, develop improved delivery systems and identify new potential drug targets.
Thrust Area
Curiosity Driven Fundamental Research
We will continue to push fundamental research within UM. Researchers are encouraged to explore new frontiers in their respective fields. However, we want you to draw inspiration from the natural world and propose how these new doscoveries will benefit humanity. It is no longer sufficient to only seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. We must propose who the benefactors will be and how will the output of our research benefit the nation. In other words, we must consider not only the academic impact of fundamental research, but also consider and aim to provide substantial societal impact in the future.
Niche Areas
Cancer:
Active Ageing:
Thrust Areas
Innovative Health:
Mental Well-Being:
Lifestyle Diseases:
Niche Areas
Cultural, Heritage and Civilization:
Behavioral Studies:
Thrust Areas
Education for the Future:
Smart Society:
Last Update: 15/12/2022