22 July 2024, Johor Bahru: The Department of Biosciences, Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) recently welcomed distinguished guests from the Journal of Tropical Life Science (JTLS), a SCOPUS-indexed journal from Brawijaya University (BU). The guests included Ms. Viky Vidayanti, a junior lecturer from the Biology Department at Brawijaya University, and Prof. Dr. İbrahim İlker Özyiğit from Marmara University, accompanied by Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Uras from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Haliç University in Istanbul, Turkey. Prof. Dr. Özyiğit highlighted the need for post-doctoral education for young PhD graduates, especially from Turkey, to come to UTM. Meanwhile, Ms. Viky promoted JTLS, encouraging the Faculty of Science to contribute high-quality papers. She emphasized that JTLS focuses on quality and does not impose unreasonable open access fees, unlike many other SCOPUS-indexed journals. Ms. Viky also expressed the Biology Department’s interest in establishing curriculum matching between Brawijaya University and Department of Biosciences, Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. This initiative aims to facilitate student and lecturer exchanges and summer programs in the future.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Nizam, Deputy Dean (Research, Development & Innovation), Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia highlighted that the visit from Brawijaya University representatives was timely, as an memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Brawijaya University is set to be signed soon. Both departments are exploring new collaborative activities. Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab, Assistant Dean (External and Global Engagement),Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia welcomed the guests, especially from Marmara University. Prof. Dr. İbrahim İlker Özyiğit was given a tour of the campus and faculty to learn about the early development of UTM before it achieved university status in 1975.
Fig1: Ms. Viky Vidyanti, Biology Department, Brawijaya University presented a token of appreciation from the Journal of Tropical Life Science (JTLS) to Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab, Assistant Dean (External and Global Engagement), Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to encourage the Faculty of Science academic staff to contribute high-quality articles to the journal, despite the competitive nature of other SCOPUS-indexed scientific publications. Also present were Prof. Fahrul Huyop from the Department of Biosciences, Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, and Dr. Fazilah Abdul Manan, Head of Research Group for Environmental Biotechnology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia . Fig 2: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Nik Nizam, Deputy Dean (Research, Development & Innovation), Faculty Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia , was also present during the briefing session to explore potential academic ties between the two institutions. Fig 3: Working lunch hosted by Professor Fahrul Huyop of the Department of Biosciences brought together coordinators of the academic program within the department and the head of the research group for further discussions on curriculum improvement for student exchange and exploring potential research collaborations in the near future. Fig 4: After working, lunch with Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Prof. Dr. İbrahim İlker Özyiğit from Marmara University, Istanbul, and Dr. Muhammed Emin from Haliç University.