The launch of the Monash Directions 2025 Initiative marks a milestone in the development of this prestigious university as it aspires to be ranked among the hallowed halls of the world’s best by 2025. By then, Monash hopes to transform itself from a teaching-based tertiary institute into a research-intensive, world class academia capitalizing on its reputation as a leading international group as well as its experiences developing into one of the leading universities in Australia despite its young age.

Monash University Malaysia echoes these exalted aspirations as we begin to watch their growth gaining momentum within the country. The 7 year-old campus is now the leading university within Malaysia, and is poised to become a regional academic hub. Currently, Monash is growing rapidly, with the student population doubling in size over the past few years. To cope with the demands of such rapid growth, a new campus will see better infrastructure in place to allow Monash maintain its lead at the forefront.

Speaking to the Dean of Arts and Science of Monash University Malaysia Prof. Pua Chong Eng, it is not unusual to feel the excitement that is emergent as the faculty is taking great strides especially in the field of biotechnology. Paired with the Malaysian Biotechnology Policy launched this year, there is great optimism that Monash would emerge as the prime hub for the industry. This timely move is aimed at carving new inroads in the fledging industry as it is on the verge of entering the international scene.

How is Monash University Malaysia to develop in line with these objectives? Benefiting from the drearth of experiences accumulated from 50 years of tertiary education, as well as their many international links, Monash is optimistic that they would succeed in bringing a new era in the Malaysian biotechnology scene. In line with government efforts, the university would be putting much emphasis in the field of Agricultural biotechnology, a Malaysian niche area of research.

It does not mean, however, that the other forms of biotechnology would be ignored. In fact, there is a great need to integrate upstream pure sciences with the down stream application science. Strong research in pure sciences such as cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics etc. would be required as well to develop the downstream science of biotechnology. The challenge here is the need to attract high caliber scientists of all fields to join the ranks of Monashian staff as well as encouraging the contrivance of their applications into accessible features to further develop the research culture here.

“We are currently competing with the likes of Singapore in terms of this, and they have been very successful in absorbing many brilliant minds as their offers are nothing less than attractive. Despite this, we hope to expand and secure our staff members by offering a competitive enough offer,” enthuses Prof. Pua.

In terms of infrastructure, the new campus would be supporting individual laboratories for the supervision of each lecturer. Meaning that lecturers are tasked with the responsibility of coordinating their own laboratories as is standard practice in most research-based campuses worldwide.

Also, more research grants and scholarships are being provided to financially support research and increase the cultivation of better brains in the country. This include six postgraduate scholarships as well as basic and major grants to cover project costs.

With the dedication and great ambitions, it is no wonder Biotech students of Monash University Malaysia are being sought after and snapped up by the industry. In fact, graduates of Monash actually fare better than their counterparts in the job market, with up to 83% securing a post within 3 months with more than 81% earning over RM2000.