Universiti Malaya Research Gallery (UMRG), an initiative under the R&I portfolio took root in 2022 and received a generous warm welcome, prompting the launch of Universiti Malaya Research Gallery 2023 with three different themes.
The three themes, namely Health & Well-Being, Climate Change & Planetary Health, and Culture & Heritage were planned for the first three quarters of the year in March, June and September 2023, respectively.
The objective of UMRG has always been to encourage knowledge exchange and dissemination, a crucial driving element for innovation and advancement.
UMRG is an innovative attempt aimed at establishing UM as a leading research-intensive university and promoting UM's research capabilities, technologies, and expertise to the wider community. It is hoped UMRG will help spark new collaborations and partnerships, lead to commercialization opportunities and ultimately contribute towards societal and economic development.
On 14th September 2023, the Culture & Heritage-themed Research Gallery was officiated by Professor Ir. Dr. Shaliza Ibrahim, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Universiti Malaya.
Scholars define culture as symbolic communication, the way of life of a group of people, which includes their behaviours, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept and adopt instinctively. These are then passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
On the other hand, as defined by UNESCO, heritage is the legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Culture and heritage hence are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The launching ceremony saw the event supporters and guests given a visual treat by the Faculty of Creative Arts (FOCA) with an inspiring performance from their passionate artisans highlighting local cultural values.
The event also saw the introduction of initiatives by the Research Services Division (BPP) to promote research visibility as well as provide students with a platform to explore their media writing prowess as Student Writers.
As a leading research-intensive university, UM is always looking to equip its students with essential core values including time-relevant crucial 3R skills, namely Reasoning, Resilience, and Responsibility. In the same vein, a short video competition was also organized by the BPP with the theme of encouraging creativity with a sense of responsibility.
Mr. Jacky Yong won first place (Energy Storage Device- Energy Field). Dr. Vishalache Balakrishnan (Service Learning) and Dr. Janice Lo Yueh Yea & Team (The Great Egg-Venture: An Egg-citing Research Quest!) took in second and third placing, respectively.
The officiating ceremony was then followed by the launching of Pecah Tanah Kerja Renovasi KPPI by the Institute of Management and Research Services (IPPP). The Research & Innovation Complex (KPPI) is a widely used space for notable programs of the University as well as external stakeholders and receives constant patronage from visitors all over the world. The KPPI complex, especially its Exhibition Hall and Auditorium will be going through a minor facelift to provide better comfort and a relaxing environment for staff members, students, and visitors. The Research Grant Management Division (BPGP) also took a momentous moment during the event to felicitate UM researchers who secured the highly competitive Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) and Prototype Research Grant Scheme (PRGS) for 2023. For the year 2023, UM has received RM 11,443,938.00 cumulatively from both grants. The year saw tough competition with a 25.56 % success rate of total UM applications for FRGS and a 9.09 % for PRGS.
The exhibition hall was a hive of activities on the day of launching with consultation booths to promote and increase the visibility of the services by BPP, BPGP, Research Cluster, Legal Unit, and IPPP Executive Director’s Office, live art performance from FOCA at the centre podium, as well as authentic displays by the Malay Ethnographic Museum and Geology Museum. Special mention to the Faculty of Language & Linguistics, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Built Environment, Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science, Faculty of Arts & Social Science (FASS), Universiti Malaya Open Science (UMOS), Maker Space, UM Centre of Innovation & Enterprise (UMCIE), Academy of Malay Studies (APM), and Faculty of Science for playing pivotal roles in contributing to the exhibition.
It is hoped that the research galleries have brought together researchers of various disciplines and different faculties to a common interactive platform that fosters their research. As mentioned by Prof. Ir. Dr. Shaliza Ibrahim during her officiating speech, “With this effort to bring together experts from different fields, we hope to identify the crucial problems and collaboratively tackle the solution from a holistic perspective which addresses the diverse needs of society. We hope the Research Gallery will inspire the exchange of ideas and insights which subsequently leads to the birth of new and innovative ideas, as well as forging new collaborations.”