UMS boosting translational, transdisciplinary research

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) wants to boost translational research and transdisciplinary research activities so that the outcomes could have a big, positive impact on the local community and industries.

Its deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation), Prof Dr Shahril Yusof said translational and transdisciplinary research were key to UMS' strategic research plan, drawn up in 2018 to fulfil the interest of the stakeholders at the state, national or international level.

“Translational research is academic research which can be translated into interest of the community and industries, for example, the water supply problem in the interior areas of Sabah which can be studied for the purpose of solving the problem for the benefit of the local community.

“Transdisciplinary research is research work that is not limited to a group of researchers from the same field, but also involving researchers from various other fields,” he said in a statement, here, yesterday.

Shahril said translational and transdisciplinary research were also one of the main criteria in UMS' research and innovation agenda which focused on seven research fields, namely aquaculture, agriculture and food, biodiversity and environmental sustainability, tourism, public health and smart healthcare, poverty eradication, public safety and transportation, and culture and mother tongue.

“These seven research fields also take into consideration the interest of the community and industries, besides being in line with Sabah's 10 key result areas and 17 sustainable development goals.

“When a university focuses on translational research, there is a slight possibility of its impact on education as the research done are more towards solving local and national issues, hence the difficulty for the researchers to produce a journal.

“Admittedly, most academics prefer to do research that will enable them to publish journals at the international level, which also contributes to improved ranking of their university. But the reality is that the research done is solely an academic research with little impact on the community and industries,” he said.

Shahril explained that UM S' decision to focus on research which could contribute to or have an impact on the community and industries was more important than just university ranking.

In this regard, he said it was so important that the translational and transdisciplinary research agenda be achieved through close cooperation between UMS and various parties, particularly the government and private agencies, and this would be a win-win situation.