Research culture in Malaysia
IN a university, academic staff are paid to do three things: research, teach and deal with administration.
As universities are largely judged by the quality of their research, they need as many of their academic staff as possible to contribute to their research output.
PhD ( Doctor of Philosophy) students also carry out research. While PhD students’ scientific discoveries do not have to have the same impact as the work of Einstein or Darwin, a doctoral dissertation has to report something that advances mankind’s knowledge.
Once a PhD student has made a contribution, he is expected to publish it in a peer- reviewed scientific literature so that people know that they are reading exactly what was originally written.
This is important as it enables you to read, for example, the work of Einstein knowing that what is read is precisely what he wrote.
This is different from websites such as Wikipedia, which can be updated by anyone. A Wikipedia entry that is read today may change tomorrow. There is no easy way of knowing that two persons are reading the same thing, from one day to the next.
PhD candidates are individuals undergoing training to carry out research. As researchers progressing through their PhD are on a learning curve, they are not operating on the same level that is expected from more experienced researchers.
Postdoctoral researchers are researchers who have received their PhD and have been fully trained in carrying out research.
Unlike full- time members of academic staff, postdoctoral researchers often do not teach or have an administrative workload. Their only task is to carry out research and publish the results in the scientific literature.
A Times Higher Education article published last year summarised how important postdoctoral researchers are to universities.
It said, “Postdoctoral researchers are critical to universities. With most principal investigators in science too busy to carry out experiments themselves, they rely on postdoctoral researchers to drive research projects and to help guide PhD students’ research on a day- to- day basis.”
This is certainly the case in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States where a substantial amount of scientific output is produced by postdoctoral researchers who are often employed through government grants.
Malaysia may not have the strongest postdoctoral culture but this is changing as the country continually improves on the quality and quantity of its research.
Leading universities in Malaysia recognise that a strong postdoctoral community provides added value to the research landscape.
In addition, it provides opportunities for those who have just been awarded a PhD to carry out full- time research rather than embarking on a full- time academic career and having to cope with teaching and administration, while trying to develop an independent research career.
MyMentor is also helping to promote a postdoctoral research culture. It is a collaboration between the Higher Education Ministry, 20 public universities and three foreign branch campuses ( Monash, Nottingham and Southampton) in Malaysia.
The aim of MyMentor is to offer those who are less than five years from the award of their doctorate the opportunity to be mentored by an experienced researcher, develop an independent research career and carry out full- time research.
Having good- quality postdoctoral researchers is important to any country and Malaysia is moving in the right direction.
In recent years, we have seen a gradual shift in the postdoctoral research culture in Malaysia. Hopefully, the culture will continue as this important body of researchers are often referred to as the “engine room of university research”.
Prof Graham Kendall is the chief executive officer and provost of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
For more information, visit www. nottingham. edu. my.