Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) is capable of becoming a leading higher education institute in researching the country’s biodiversity, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said the UNIMAS Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (IBEC) needs to be ready to collaborate and share its research results with biodiversity institutes in other local universities to ensure it had a larger and more meaningful impact.

“The strength of UNIMAS is in its biodiversity research, taking into account the vastness of Sarawak and the potential to make the discipline of biodiversity successful in Malaysia,” he said in a press conference after a working visit to UNIMAS today.

He said the Ministry of Higher Education will also consider setting up a roadmap and collaboration between universities to optimise research efforts.

“There needs to be cooperation, or else, the research will be redundant and that causes a waste of resources. For example, at UNIMAS there are 10 experts and at Universiti Malaya there are five experts, why not we gather them to work together to benefit the country, so this is what the ministry has to discuss,” he said.

He said the visit, which was also his first since assuming his post as Minister of Higher Education, aimed to discuss the achievements and direction of UNIMAS as well as methods to increase the marketability of graduates.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency