PONTIANAK: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Universitas Tanjungpura (Untan) here have entered a partnership on joint research projects.
Both universities have allocated RM308,000 to support collaborative research endeavours, with each institution contributing RM154,000.
“I am pleased to approve RM154,000 for 14 research projects from Unimas to be matched with 14 projects from Untan,” said Unimas Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Ahmad Hata Rasit at a meeting with Untan Rector Professor Dr Garuda Wiki, SH, here recently.
“I also agreed for Untan to contribute the same amount for this purpose,” said Prof Dr Garuda.
Also present during the meeting were Unimas Global Director Thian Foo Fatt, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Unimas Business School Professor Dr Puah Chin Hong, as well as 14 researchers who are also lecturers from the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology (FRST).
Professor Dr Ramlah Zainudin, who is the head researcher at FRST, said the focus of this research study is to establish the Borneo Satellite Network (BoSaN), which will digitise all research results on one platform in ‘real-time’ and the network can be accessed for free.
The research, under the theme ‘Zoologists Go Global,’ involves cooperation with other Borneo universities like Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to ensure comprehensive data collection for the region.
“We want to ensure that the results of our research are comprehensive for the whole of Borneo, for the people of Borneo, and for the benefit and use of the global community,” said Dr Ramlah.
The research to be carried out revolves around the 3Cs, namely climate change, conservation of biodiversity, and cooperation in partnership, to achieve four sustainable development goals: SDG13 Climate Change, SDG15 Life on Land, SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals, and SDG14 Life Below Water.
In addition to collaborative discussions that were held from Feb 27 to March 2 between researchers from FRST, Unimas, and researchers from Falkutas Kehutanan (Fahutan), Untan, a seminar focused on zoology in the Borneo forest ecosystem was also delivered by Unimas researchers to students and researchers from Fahutan.
Research site visits were also held around West Kalimantan, from Pontianak city to Singkawang.
Fahutan Dean, Dr. Farah Diba, S.Hut, M.Si., as the host of this programme, hopes that this collaboration will not only focus on research but can also be extended to teaching and learning matters such as student mobility and the implementation of a dual degree research (graduate) programme between between FRST and Fahutan.
