Keeping research relevant
Local researchers honoured at Malaysia’s Rising Star Award
THE role of research at universities is crucial not only in developing academic systems but also for Malaysia to be a part of the global knowledge society.
For Professor Dr Lee Keat Teong from Universiti Sains Malaysia, one of the five Malaysia’s Rising Star Award (MRSA) Young Researcher recipients for 2016, being cited from his published papers by peers means that his research is relevant for other researchers working on their own experimental work.
He said: “This also indicates that the education system in Malaysia is capable of producing researchers that are on a par, if not better, with researchers from world-renowned institutions.”
Lee, 39, has published papers in the field of biofuel, specifically biodiesel and bioethanol. Both are renewable fuel with biodiesel being used to run trucks and buses, and bioethanol to run cars. “You need to look at the positive side and be more creative and innovative in conducting research work to get the best results out of the resources and facilities made available, especially in the current unfavourable economical situation,” he said.
He added that the USM management right from the vice-chancellor to the deputy vice-chancellors and deans have been supportive in creating an ambience that allowed him and his research team to achieve what he has achieved today.
“I like what our VC, Professor Datuk Dr Asma Ismail has been advocating, that is to ‘co-learn’ with our fellow colleagues and collaborators all over the world and to be more creative and innovative in carrying out a research project,” said Lee, who is also the USM Research Creativity and Management Office (RCMO) director and USM International Collaborations Office director.
Lee was also recently listed as one of the four Most Cited Researchers in the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities 2016 by Subjects in the field of energy science and engineering.
On his greatest challenge after this, Lee said that he wanted to translate his research achievements into something useful that can benefit the industry and society.
He is working on deriving renewable energy from algae which he hoped will be an alternative source of energy to the current energy obtained from fossil fuels.
Lee hopes his achievement would serve as a motivation and encouragement to other researchers in his university.
“The award is also a great acknowledgement and recognition to many parties that have contributed to this win, especially my postgraduate students, mentor, colleagues and the university.”
Aimed to encourage Malaysians to continue their groundbreaking research in their respective fields and advance global science, the Young Researcher Award category was presented recently by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to researchers below 40 years old who produced the world’s top five per cent most cited articles.
Their scientific scholarly output are based on citations of their published research papers in quality international journals as indexes in Web of Science (from Clarivate Analytics) and Scopus (from Elsevier).
Apart from the Young Researcher award, four other awards — Frontier Researcher Award, Highly Cited Review Award, Women in Science Award and International Collaboration Award — were presented in a ceremony held in Putrajaya recently.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh who presented the awards said in his speech that focused and strategic cooperation is essential in order to increase the level of skills and research expertise to produce quality graduates.
He said collegiality and cooperation in education and research are capable of strengthening and adding value to a country’s modernity and progress. AWARDS BY CLARIVATE ANALYTICS
• Frontier Researcher
Professor Dr Zainal Salam — Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Professor Dr Ahmad Fauzi Ismail — Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Professor Dr Ishak Ahmad — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Dr Jinap Selamat — Universiti Putra Malaysia
Dr Che Hang Seng — University of Malaya
• Young Researcher
Professor Ir Dr Sharifah Rafidah — Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Professor Dr Lee Keat Teong — Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc Professor Dr Lim Hong Ngee — Universiti Putra Malaysia Dr Ong Hwai Chyuan — University of Malaya
Dr Huang Nay Ming — University of Malaya
• Highly Cited Review
Professor Datuk Ir Dr Wan Ramli — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Ir Dr Siti Kartom — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Dr Wan Saime Wan Ngah — Universiti Sains Malaysia Professor Ir Dr Mohd Ali Hashim — University of Malaya
AWARDS BY ELSEVIER
• Women In Science
Professor Ir Dr Zahira Yaakob — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Dr Azah Mohamed — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Assoc Professor Dr Suzana Yusup — Universiti Teknologi Petronas
• International Collaboration
Professor Dr Nasrudin Abd Rahim — University of Malaya Professor Dr Sulaiman Wadi Harun — University of Malaya Professor Dr Mohd Rafi Yusop — Universiti Putra Malaysia
MALAYSIA’S RISING STAR AWARD 2016
RECOGNITION BY CLARIVATE ANALYTICS
• Reuters 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities Universiti Putra Malaysia
University of Malaya
• Malaysia’s Highly Cited Researcher Named Amongst The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015
Professor Datuk Ir Dr Wan Ramli — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Ir Dr Siti Kartom — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Professor Dr Bassim H Hameed — Universiti Sains Malaysia