KUCHING: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (UNIMAS) Vice Chancellor High Impact Research Fund (VCHIF) amounting over RM3.5 million in research grant was handed over to 15 programme leaders yesterday.
UNIMAS Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi stated that the research grant programme is to incorporate fundamental and exploratory research that aims towards the generation of new knowledge and the creation of new technologies.
He said it is designed to encourage collaborative research efforts across various clusters and research domains that are within the spheres of UNIMAS’s niche areas.
Each programme leaders were awarded with an average of RM200,000 in research grant.
“Following the Amanat Naib Canselor 2022 in February, this year gave prominence to the Strategic Focus 2: Research Excellence of the Strategic Plan and the importance of carrying out high impact research activities as well as strengthening research enculturation in UNIMAS.
“The proposals were subjected to thorough evaluation by UNIMAS panels of expert whereby each research grant programme consisting of three sub-projects shall explore the themes of engineering, business, biodiversity, social impact, medicine, energy, and information technology,” he said.
He disclosed that the current VCHIF is expected to produce a minimum of 90 scholarly papers indexed in WOS/SCOPUS and a minimum of 52 postgraduates’ students namely 36 PhD and 16 Masters by Research.
“Congratulations to all award recipients, and we wish them well in their research endeavours,” he said.
