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A new initiative to bring Malaysia and the European Union closer together will be co-ordinated by The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC), it has been announced.
MYEULINK, a new three-year project based in Malaysia, aims to increase awareness and understanding of the EU and its key policies among universities, government officials, the private sector, the media and other interest groups in Malaysia.
Funded through a grant of €575,000 by the EU, and with support from the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, the project will encourage co-operation and dialogue in higher education, and keep decision-makers in Malaysia informed on a range of EU policy initiatives.
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It is the first major EU-funded activity to be co-ordinated at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
The official launch of the project takes place at the Prince Hotel and Residence, Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday March 30 2010, with H.E. Vincent Piket, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the EU in Malaysia and YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the Malaysian Minister of Higher Education, in attendance as guests of honour.
Professor Sayed Azam-Ali, Vice-President (Research) at UNMC, and Project Co-ordinator, said: “This initiative is a very positive step because it brings together two key sectors, higher education and business, to identify common priorities between the EU and Malaysia. Linkages developed through MYEULINK will be ideally placed to apply for research funding through the EU Framework and other programmes.”
MYEULINK will also contribute to the Government of Malaysia’s vision of making the country a tertiary education hub for the region, and to the internationalisation of its higher education sector.
The project has a number of integrated objectives:
• To support higher education, through an online repository of materials, briefing documents and expertise.
• To develop an alliance of Malaysian public and private sector organisations, agencies and individuals through an online repository of briefing materials and expertise that will link directly with relevant centres of knowledge in the EU.
• To establish a Sustainable Community of Practice for Malaysian and EU institutions using a repository of expertise and best practice on key EU/Malaysia education and policy issues.
• To utilise this Community of Practice as a blueprint for an EU Centre in Malaysia.
• To raise awareness and understanding of EU issues across the Malaysian public and private sectors.
The MYEULINK project brings together a number of institutions, as well as UNMC: the University of Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, University Malaysia Sabah, The University of Nottingham in the UK and Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Among other activities, participating institutions will deliver and develop an on-line repository of EU-related teaching in Business, Economics, History, Politics, Law and Media. A Europe/Malaysia Higher Education Fair, linking HE institutions in Malaysia with counterparts in Europe, is planned for early 2011.
Three Malaysian Associate organisations — the Institute for Strategic and International Studies, the National Higher Education Research Institute and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) — will host high-level seminars and contribute to the online repository of policy briefings.
The University of Nottingham has a long history of working closely with Malaysia — two former Kings and the current Prime Minister are Nottingham graduates. Nottingham was also the first British university to establish a campus in the country, at Semenyih south of Kuala Lumpur.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 100 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to RAE 2008, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranks the University 7th in the UK by research power. In 27 subject areas, the University features in the UK Top Ten, with 14 of those in the Top Five.
The University provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakes world-changing research, and attracts talented staff and students from 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's “only truly global university”, it has invested continuously in award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003 its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. The University has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade) and 2007 (Innovation — School of Pharmacy), and was named ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2008.
Nottingham was designated as a Science City in 2005 in recognition of its rich scientific heritage, industrial base and role as a leading research centre. Nottingham has since embarked on a wide range of business, property, knowledge transfer and educational initiatives (www.science-city.co.uk) in order to build on its growing reputation as an international centre of scientific excellence. The University of Nottingham is a partner in Nottingham: the Science City.