In this era of globalisation, academics and educational institutions are increasingly recognising the importance of internationalisation in their growth and development. Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman’s (UTAR) vision is to be a global university of educational excellence with transformative societal impact. Over the years, UTAR has proactively sought alignment with the global academic community.
Through close collaboration with international and local partners, UTAR has created an innovative learning environment that empowers its students to adapt to the ever-changing world, harness their talents, and make impactful contributions to an evolving society. Currently, UTAR has established partnerships with over 620 renowned higher education institutions and corporate organisations worldwide. These partnerships have enabled UTAR to initiate a range of transformative initiatives, including international collaborative research projects, talent development programmes, extensive staff and student exchanges, dynamic seminars, conferences, and workshops.
These collaborations are typically aimed at enhancing the academic experience for students, fostering research collaboration, and providing opportunities for international exposure. One of the common aspects of these collaborations is the Mutual Credit Recognition Programmes, in which UTAR partners with overseas universities to offer dual postgraduate degree programmes.
Postgraduate students have an opportunity to join the Mutual Credit Recognition Programmes from UTAR’s MoU partner universities. The student under the mutual credit recognition programme will be recognised as a regular full-time student of both institutions and shall only pay tuition fees to the Home University. The students who fulfil both requirements from the Home and Host University will be awarded a degree from both universities. UTAR has collaborated with several universities for the Mutual Credit Recognition Programmes. Some of the universities include Tunghai University, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (National Yang-Ming University + National Chiao Tung University) and Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule (OTH) Regensburg. The partnership with these institutions is promised to be a remarkable chapter in UTAR’s shared commitment to academic excellence and global engagement.
Nalini Devi, a PhD student at UTAR, was enrolled in the M. Kandiah Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences/UTAR-National Yang-Ming University (NYMU) dual-degree programme. She said, “I re-joined UTAR in 2018 as a PhD student, my work solely focused on transcriptome analysis of circRNA in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). I was supervised by Prof Alan Ong Han Kiat and Prof Cheong Soon Keng in UTAR, and Prof Dr Chiou Shih-Hwa, a clinical professor from the Institute of Pharmacology (NYMU). My research work, as I mentioned earlier, involved the elucidation of circular RNA (circRNA), a type of long non-coding RNA in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. I was allowed to use NYMU’s core research facilities such as the Confocal microscope and Transmission Electron microscope (TEM). All these wonderful experiences from both UTAR and NYMU have prepared me to be a well-trained scientist.”
