UNMCAnnualReview2013issuu

The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Annual Review2013

www.nottingham.edu.my

Britain’s global university in Malaysia

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Contents

3 Provost’s welcome

4 Introduction

5 UNMC in numbers

6 Excellence in teaching

8-11 World-changing research

and knowledge exchange

12 Global reach

14 University life and social

responsibility

16 Sustaining excellence

18 Campus life

20 Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences

22 Faculty of Engineering

24 Faculty of Science

26 Highlights

28 Facts and figures

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The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has ended 2013 in a good position. The University of Nottingham brand and a University of Nottingham degree award have global recognition and are attractive to students, to their parents and to sponsors both within Malaysia and worldwide.

As Britain’s global university in Malaysia, UNMC offers a distinctive student experience – one that reflects the style associated with British higher education and the heritage and traditions of The University of Nottingham. A UNMC education is characterised by an integrated approach involving curricular and co-curricular activity. It is student-centred, encouraging creative, independent and critical thinking; teaching and learning are informed by the latest research and led by outstanding researchers and educators. We focus on the development of graduates who have a clear awareness of the challenges facing global society, their broader responsibilities to their communities as well as the knowledge and skills to develop successful careers.

The campus itself provides an outstanding learning environment and recent investments have served to enhance both the educational and social environments.

An investment programme of close to RM80m has created 1,200 new student bedrooms, a substantial extension to the Student Association, a new food court and a suite of new social learning spaces across the campus.

The University of Nottingham has always been a research intensive institution and UNMC operates within this tradition. Excellence in research is a distinctive characteristic of UNMC as we strive to use our institutional capabilities

to make a difference, by creating new knowledge and exploring ways in which that knowledge can be applied to improve economic, social and cultural wellbeing. There is an increasing focus on working with business and with support from colleagues at the UK campus, we are starting to make progress in terms of business engagement.

Financially, 2013 was a challenging year, but prudent management has resulted in a small surplus to support future investment in our core activities. Our operating environment continues to be dynamic and unpredictable; policy decisions can and do impact significantly on our activity, competition is increasingly fierce (whether from new or existing institutions) and our stakeholders have high expectations of UNMC.

But we are a small, innovative and agile institution with very significant strengths, including the quality of our students/graduates, the quality of our staff, the excellence of our research and teaching and an outstanding campus environment. We have a strong position within the Malaysian HE sector and indeed globally, being part of one of the top 1% of universities worldwide.

2013 has been a good year and we approach 2014 with optimism.

Christine Ennew

Provost’s welcome

This annual review provides an opportunity to record and celebrate the achievements at UNMC during 2013. During the course of the year, guided by the academic and professional service communities, UNMC management formalised a longer-term vision for the development of the campus to 2020. Launched formally in October at a campus-wide event held in Port Dickson, the Strategic Roadmap spells out an ambition for UNMC to be:

Introduction

An elite but inclusive educational institution within South East Asia which is recognised for its academic breadth, the quality of the education it provides and the excellence of the student experience. UNMC graduates will be known for their entrepreneurship, their creativity, their independence and critical thinking and for their global outlook

A truly international institution which is home to a community of global citizens with a highly developed understanding of their local, national and global responsibilities

An institution which is partnership-oriented, working with universities, with government and business, with the third sector and with local communities to discharge its responsibilities to society in its broadest sense

An institution which is characterised by excellence in research, where scholars have a particular focus on addressing the challenges facing South East Asia and countries in the Islamic world. Our focus will be on developing and applying our research capabilities to make a positive impact on economic, social and cultural well-being within ASEAN and the broader South East Asia region

An institution which is sustainable both financially and environmentally and committed to its home in Malaysia for the longer term

Subsequent sections will provide an overview of activity in relation to key functional areas and key academic areas. While the dominant focus will be on collective and institutional outcomes, this review will also provide an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of key individuals across the institution.

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The total student body now numbers close to 4800, following intakes in April, July and September. Recruitment of Malaysian students continued to grow and while demand from international students was similarly high, the new visa regulations resulted in a significant reduction in the number of actual registrations.

We estimate that in excess of 200 international students failed to secure visas to join their chosen courses.

Difficulties with respect to the new EMGS immigration system are in evidence nationwide and the University remains committed to working with relevant government agencies to address the adverse consequences of the new arrangements.

The University of Nottingham Malaysia in numbers

Student population by study level

Study level Malaysia International Total (Oct)

Foundation 570 104 674

UG 2326 911 3237

PGT 227 184 411

PGR 214 107 321

Exchange - 131 131

Total 3337 1437 4774

Student population by origin

Faculty Malaysian International Population

Arts andSocial Sciences

925 650 674

Engineering 1523 550 2014

Science 889 237 1482

Total 3337 1437 4774

Staff numbers as of end November 2013

Engineering Arts & Social Science Central Total

Academic 101 88 66 - 255

SSR 19.9 16.8 16.8 - 18.1

Non-academic 53 27 32 220 332

Total 154 115 98 220 587

Exhibit 1: Student population over time (May census date)1

Study level 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Foundation 560 543 670 927 1079

UG 2113 2349 2489 2740 2972

PGT 429 501 455 495 433

PGR 140 210 238 263 285

Total 3242 3603 3852 4425 4769

Exhibit 2: Student numbers on foundation programmes (May census date)

Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Faculty of Engineering

326 352 391 439 443

Malaysian 253 268 298 362 357

International 73 84 93 77 86

Faculty of Science

53 54 92 193 288

Malaysian 31 45 74 162 259


Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

181 137 187 295 348

Malaysian 111 98 122 188 245


Total 560 543 670 927 1079

Malaysian 395 411 494 712 861

International 165 132 176 215 218

Student population by study level

Study level Malaysia International Total (Oct)

Foundation 570 104 674

UG 2326 911 3237

PGT 227 184 411

PGR 214 107 321

Exchange - 131 131

Total 3337 1437 4774


Faculty Malaysian International Population


925 650 674


Science 889 237 1482

Total 3337 1437 4774

Staff numbers as of end November 2013

Engineering Arts & Social Science Central Total

Academic 101 88 66 - 255

SSR 19.9 16.8 16.8 - 18.1

Non-academic 53 27 32 220 332

Total 154 115 98 220 587


Study level 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Foundation 560 543 670 927 1079

UG 2113 2349 2489 2740 2972

PGT 429 501 455 495 433

PGR 140 210 238 263 285

Total 3242 3603 3852 4425 4769


Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


326 352 391 439 443

Malaysian 253 268 298 362 357


Faculty of Science

53 54 92 193 288

Malaysian 31 45 74 162 259



181 137 187 295 348

Malaysian 111 98 122 188 245


Total 560 543 670 927 1079

Malaysian 395 411 494 712 861

International 165 132 176 215 218

The composition of the student body is summarised in the tables below.

Staff numbers have continued to grow as outlined in the table below and UNMC reports highly favourable student staff ratios as a result of a continuing investment in academic staff for both teaching and research.


Faculty Malaysian International Pop(Oct)


925 650 1575


Science 889 237 1126

Total 3337 1437 4774

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Continuous improvement and enhancement of teaching and learning provision at UNMC is at the very core of our thinking, both in terms of short-term operational issues as well as in relation to longer-term strategic development as outlined in the new Roadmap. In the shorter term, there are initiatives under way to support staff as they engage in teaching. These include the implementation, embedding and development of Moodle support, improvement of staff-student ratios, improving peer observation support and a programme of teaching and learning enhancement activities throughout the year.

The University’s overarching Teaching and Learning Strategy (TLS) was enhanced in early 2013 with renewed emphasis on initiatives for change during 2013-2015. The UNMC Campus Teaching Committee continues to monitor and develop the UNMC Implementation Plan for the revised TLS and to monitor progress towards the Key Indicators within the University Strategic Plan.

In line with the Teaching and Learning Strategy there has been a concerted effort to improve the student learning experience with a particular emphasis being placed on the development of improved social learning spaces (including Learning@TheCore, Learning@Vetro, Learning@Radius and Learning@Nexus). There have been a range of broader projects and activities aimed at improving the student experience and an increased emphasis on engagement with students through dialogue with the Student Association, the Education Network and the Campus Services Committee, amongst other routes.

The development of the senior tutor role and full development of the Senior Tutor Network has led to improved personal tutor support and experience, and this work will continue in to 2014. Four new programmes were approved for delivery at UNMC in 2013 (several more are awaiting approval at the Ministry) bringing the number of approved courses to over 100.

The past year has witnessed the continued development of innovative teaching and learning activities, with cross-campus components, including cross-campus module development and delivery, cross-campus delivery with UK students taught by lecturers based at UNMC, and cross-campus delivery of taught material followed by CSR activities including UK and UNMC students working with local Orang Asli communities. In an innovative move in conjunction with

the UK, UNMC is piloting the use of iPads in teaching.In the longer-term vision for UNMC, alongside University-wide plans for transformations in teaching, we will be focusing on projects that seek to ensure that students remain at the very heart of our University activities. Our learning and teaching activity must continue to develop in a learner-focused way. We also need to ensure that our technology-enabled learning provision is of the highest quality while recognising that we are and will continue to be dominantly a campus-based educational institution.

Last year saw a larger roll-out of the “echo 360” lecture-capture system and development activities will continue in to 2014 to encourage a wider uptake of this facility. With new learning spaces and a renewed culture focusing on student learning, we will strive to provide UNMC’s students with the highest quality learning experience.

During 2013, the Government of Malaysia announced changes to the content and delivery of the “compulsory subjects” (otherwise known as MPU) with a view to enhancing the employability skills of graduates as well as their cultural understanding. These subjects have been extended in terms of scale and coverage (ie, international students are now required to undertake a subset of the compulsory subjects). The University is trying to capitalise on existing elements in the curriculum and is looking for more effective delivery mechanisms to ensure that students realise the full benefits associated with these new subjects.

UNMC continues to engage with external agencies in the provision of wider education in the community. 2013 saw UNMC collaborate with the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MOE) in training special needs teachers. This partnership between MOE, UNMC and College of Allied Educators trained and assessed 292 primary school teachers from all over Malaysia at centres in Kuching, Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terengganu, Batu Pahat and Melaka. Minister of Education II, Dato’Seri Idris Jusoh, officiated at a formal ceremony on campus to mark the completion of the programme.

Overall 2013 has been a productive and fruitful year for the development of Teaching and Learning at UNMC. Some of the more challenging aspects of dealing with government agencies have been countered by real steps forward in improving the student experience. Our talented and committed staff and students will ensure we make further progress in 2014.

Excellence in education

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World-changing research andknowledge exchange

Research has always been an integral component of UNMC. One of UNMC’s largest projects, the MEME research programme (Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants) was formally launched on 20 May 2013, with funding of RM3.6m from Yayasan Sime Darby. The programme aims for better understanding of the Asian elephant, and to understand how to mitigate the growing problem of human-elephant conflict. As well as helping to improve management techniques, the project will be developing its research into the immediate and mid-term behavioural response of elephants to translocation — when they are moved away from an area of human-elephant conflict.

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Research has always been an integral component of UNMC since its early days but with the development of the campus and its facilities, the University has been able to enhance some of the infrastructure that underpins its longer-term vision for research excellence. One of the most visible indicators of research performance comes in the form of publications. Our publication record continues to improve year on year.

2013 saw some important developments with respect to UNMC’s aspirations in relation to knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange. As part of the longer term agenda for driving business engagement, a specialist unit is under-development and this will work closely with the equivalent teams in the UK and China. A primary task will be the development of a set of capability statements, which can be used to project UNMC expertise to a broader user community.

In addition there have been a number of specific events to promote greater levels of engagement between UNMC and a broader user community.

In Feb 2013, UNMC hosted a Horizon Digital Nutrition Sandpit, held in collaboration with CFFRC. The focus of the event was digital nutrition. The aim of the sandpit (which was similar to a UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Sandpit was to generate ideas from all the participants, with the aim of arriving at a project (sometimes projects) that receives funding to undertake the proposed research. The event concluded with a “Dragon’s Den style pitch from the teams in order to secure funding.

As part of the development of improved levels of business engagement, UNMC hosted The Malaysian Aerospace Mission 2013 which took place from 18-22 Mar 2013. The event included technical discussions with important industry players from Malaysia, including BAE Systems, Spirit Aerosystems, Strand Aerospace Malaysia, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC), Composite Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), UPECA Aerotech and the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office. The event also includes site and factory visits to Spirit Aerosystems, Strand, CTRM and Rolls-Royce Advanced Technology Centre in Singapore.

We were delighted to participate in the JPA (Malaysian Public Works Department)/BMCC (British Malaysia Chamber of Commerce) initiative which aims to enable key staff to work at a UK based company for a three

month period. Both of the JPA employees (Amiruddin Bin Alaldin (Director, Performance Audit Division, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia) and Mohd Khairul Nizam Bin Ibrahim (Acting Director, Human Resource Development Division, Malaysian Qualifications Agency) visited the UK as part of their project and were hosted by the BEIS/ABC and the Graduate School during the two weeks they spent in the UK.

On November 28, UNMC formally launched its wholly-owned subsidiary, MyResearch. This is the first company, fully owned by a private university, to have been awarded MIDA R&D status. Having MIDA R&D status is of particular significance as it enables Malaysian companies to invest in R&D in a very tax efficient way. At the launch event, we were also delighted to be able to sign the first MyResearch contract with Havys Palm Oil Mill Sdn Bhd.

A major research partner for UNMC is the Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC). In 2013, CFFRC launched five dedicated programme themes on specific end-uses of underutilised crops. The five CFFRC research programmes themes already launched are:

1. BamYield: Bambara groundnut as an exemplar crop for Africa and Asia.

2. BiomassPlus: Novel biomass crops for sustainable renewable energy.

3. CropBase: Web-based decision-support knowledge platform on underutilised crops.

4. FishPlus: Novel plant products to increase nutritional value of aquaculture feeds.

5. FoodPlus: Diversification of the food basket for enhanced community nutrition.

As part of the five CFFRC research programme themes, one programme (PlantationPlus) is in development and another two (MilletYield and SocioBase) are currently under consideration. UNMC have received significant funding under this initiative (over RM 3.5M in 2013).

World-changing research andknowledge exchange

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Figure 2: The impact that University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus research is having is evident from the citations that our publications are receiving. Citations of UNMC publications, as recorded by Web of Knowledge, showing the change, year on year.

1 2 1 5

1 8

25

47

79

121

103

124

152 147

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Figure 3: The growth in research funding is outlined in Figure 3. In recent years, we have received significant awards from Sime Darby, the EU and, in 2013, Crops for the Future Research Centre is making a significant investment into PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.

Figure 1: Record of UNMC publications as recorded by Web of Knowledge. The extract was done on 23 December 2013. The 2013 value will increase over time. (Comparable data from Scopus is available in the appendices).

UNMC continues to be a highly international and diverse community. The campus is currently home to a community of international students from around 70 countries who make up over 35% of the student body.

Our students learn from a genuinely international academic community. Some 25% of UNMC academic staff are international and represent around 30 countries worldwide. Our students have mobility opportunities to University of Nottingham campuses in the UK and China and

a range of other academic partners In Europe, UK and North America.

For all three main intakes in 2013, international student recruitment was negatively impacted by the introduction of new visa processes which have created additional complexity, added to costs and lengthened the visa application process significantly. The best available estimates suggest that this may have reduced the student intake by 200 or more.

Global reach

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UNMC has a diverse community, with students from around 70 countries and staff from over 30.

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University life and social responsibility

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UNMC attracts students who are both academically excellent and also very much aware of their broader social responsibilities.

Our student community has also proven to be very active in organising various events throughout the year to promote student engagement and in the same time, benefit the community. Some of the major events that were organised include:

• Blood Donation Drive by Pharmacy Society• Jom Botak by ACE Society to raise cancer

awareness. • Gen-y Music Festival by Music Society • Nottingham Charity Run by ACE Society in aid of

Hospis Malaysia.• Curb Your Ego campaign • Green Week in October to create awareness of

the environment.• The ongoing bi-weekly Night Market organised

by ENACTUS to raise funds for children from our neighbouring village.

• The Nations Cup, a sporting event between students from the different countries represented on campus.

• Fifth Tri-Campus Games held in June, a mini-Olympics-type sporting event between the campuses in the UK, China and Malaysia.

• UNMC students are proving to be high achievers, having won several gold medals at local inter-university events and at various competitions, placing them in top rankings.

• Two Mechanical Engineering students, along with students from the Business School and Civil Engineering Department, won the General Electric University Challenge which required the students to bring together ideas on clean and energy-efficient solutions that promote sustainability and deliver cost savings for residential, commercial and industrial developments.

• The Jan Atkin Prize was also set up by Emeritus Professor Brian Atkin in memory of his late wife. This prize rewards students who have made outstanding contributions to the University and the wider community. This year, three students each received the RM 5000 prize money, presented by Professor Atkin himself.

The 5th Tri-Campus Games were hosted by UNMC in 2013.

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MyBurgerLab is an innovative burger outlet owned and managed by Nottingham alumnus Teoh Wee Kiat.

Our graduatesThe Careers Advisory Service surveys all graduates on their employment status six months after graduation. The data for this survey (right) was from the graduating class in February 2013 and July 2012.

Leading graduate employers include Accenture, BP Asia Pacific, Cameron International Malaysia, CIMB, Citibank, CROPS, Ernst & Young, GL Nobel Denton, Halliburton, Hong Leong Bank, HSBC, IBM, Intel, MMC-Gamuda, Nestle, OCBC, Petronas, RHB Banl, Sapura Kencana Petroleum

The achievements of our alumni have been recognised in a number of ways throughout 2013. The University of Nottingham presented a Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 to YM Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithauddeen at an Alumni dinner in Kuala Lumpur. Alumni Molly Fong, CEO of Body Shop Malaysia, and Dr Ting Kang Nee, Head of School of Biomedical Sciences at UNMC, were also presented with University awards for their achievements.

MyBurgerLab, an innovative burger outlet owned and managed by Nottingham alumnus Teoh Wee Kiat, and his business partner, Chin Ren Yi, since July 2012, won Best Western Restaurant in the Time Out KL Food Awards 2013 based on votes cast by the city’s residents. It was also shortlisted as Best New Restaurant in Time Out KL Food Awards 2012.

Sustaining excellence

Where do UNMC graduates go?

The Careers Advisory Service surveyed a target population of 936 UNMC graduates to find out their first destination six months after the graduation ceremony in February 2013 and July 2012.

• 92.3% of graduates are in employment, further study, waiting for work placement or attend skills enhancement programme

• 81.1% in employed in work (includes permanent, contract work, self-employed, temporary and work with family) and 10% in further study

• The top five employment sectors are: Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply, Financial and Insurance, Human Health and Social Work Activities, Manufacturing and Public Administration and Defense

• The average salary of all employed respondents was RM3141

• The average salary of employed undergraduates was RM 2722 and postgraduates was RM3819

(Surveyed 232 in Feb 2013 and 704 in July 2012) and received 444 responses.

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Campus life

New and enhanced services have been introduced to further improve student life on campus.

A new caterer has been appointed to manage the cafeteria in the extension of the Student Association building. The new caterer is Sodexo, a reputable and established internationally branded F&B manager, which took over in August and serves a wide variety of food in a more comfortable environment.

We have given the bookstore additional space so it can accommodate more reading materials according to student needs and allow students to browse in a more conducive and stimulating environment.

The University buses and vans can now be easily recognised thanks to a new livery. The transport office has also been working closely with the student body to boost the services, looking at increasing the frequency of trips, timing and bus routes to better meet students’ needs.

The student services centre started operations in December. It will be a one-stop destination for our students to address finance, accommodation, visa, sponsorship and other queries.

The Childcare Centre opened in March and approximately 10 children of staff members are being cared for by our trained and experienced care-givers.

To further enhance campus security, we have installed state-of-the-art CCTV cameras at strategic locations. The safety of our staff and students is of paramount importance to us, and we will continue making such investments over time.

Towards the end of the year, work began to create common social areas in older halls of residence to encourage interaction and camaraderie among residents. We have also increased the number of

payment stations to make it more convenient for students to pay accommodation-related fees and charges.

Our campus has some of the best sporting facilities in the country and both staff and students are very active. Last year saw the inauguration of a staff sports competition, which brought academics and non-academics together to compete against other sections of the campus. The event was a huge success, with more than 200 staff taking part., and it is likely to become an annual event. This has also started discussions to revive the Staff Club to better co-ordinate and manage events and activities.

The highlight of the year was the fifth Tri-Campus games, which were hosted by UNMC. This international sporting event showcased students from Nottingham campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China. Games played included football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, squash, tennis, table tennis and frisbee. The Games involved nearly 200 students from more than 20 nations competing in three international campus-based teams. A friendly match was also organised for Team Nottingham to compete with students from universities in Malaysia

The UNMC Table Tennis team won this year’s International Students Sports Carnival (ISSC) Championship on the weekend of 30 November/1 December 2013 at UNITEN (University Tenaga Nasional) in Bangi.

UNMC participated in the Networking Games 2013 in Melaka from the 13-15 December 2013. This is a sporting carnival for staff members of private institutions of higher education under MASISWA. We are proud to announce that our Sepak Takraw team and our netball team returned with bronze medals.

An ongoing programme of work aims to keep improving the student experience.

Soumia Mekki is an undergraduate in International Relations, School of Politics, History and International Relations.

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Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

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Social Sciences has been part of UNMC since its inception, but it is only recently that there has been significant diversification in the subjects offered. 2013 marked the third anniversary of an integrated Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). During 2013, all but one FASS schools were relocated into a single building to promote greater cross-disciplinary working.

Student and staff numbers have continued to grow: the faculty’s ambitious expansion plans aim to make it the largest on campus by 2020.

2013 saw the departure of some key senior staff: Professor Tan Hui Boon (NUBS), Associate Professor Camilla Jensen (head of Nottingham School of Economics) and Associate Professor Howard Loewen (PHIR). Their departures were offset by the faculty’s continued success in recruiting experienced mid-career or senior scholars, most notably Professor Ong Fon Sim (NUBS), Professor Tony Bush (Education, and Nottingham’s first ‘split-campus’ appointment), Associate Professor Michael Connors (who joined PHIR from La Trobe and took over as Head of School in July) and Associate Professor Derek Irwin (who came from Ningbo to head up the School of English). The faculty remains ‘top-light’, in terms of senior and professorial staff, however progress is being made in nurturing talent from within the ranks: the 2013 promotions round saw a high success rate for the faculty (five from seven applications for level 6; one level 7 awaiting results in February 2014); Paul (NSE), Alam (NUBS), Yee (NUBS), Lim (SMLC), to associate professor and Gan (NUBS) to senior teaching fellow.

The faculty reached a milestone in terms of shape and maturity in 2013. Politics, History and International Relations and the Nottingham School of Economics graduated their first UG cohort, and, like the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, will soon exit their ‘start-up’ phase. Significant progress has been made in establishing these schools’ presence in Malaysia; refining curricula to meet local demands, engaging with the public through lectures and seminars, and working with local collaborators. Although English language and literature has been taught as part of SMLC’s programmes, the opening of the School of English in Arts and Humanities in September was an exciting initiative for UNMC. English’s four staff quickly made their presence felt on the intellectual life of the campus, through their work with the Pages & Leaves reading group, a campus-wide theatre group and a creative writing magazine (http://particle.sanottingham.org). Finally, the faculty’s two foundation programmes were brought together into a single Foundation Studies Unit, headed by Wendy Gan.

Student evaluation reports show that FASS schools continue to provide a high standard of UG and PGT

teaching. NSE’s first graduating cohort of UG saw over 50% receive first class degrees, but across the board, IQA and external examiners reports show strong teaching and learning activities under way.

The creation of an Associate Dean for Teaching Enhancement (Angeli Santos) in September signals the faculty’s determination to keep teaching delivery, curricula design and staff professional development. The AD(TE) also helped oversee the expansion of compulsory subjects in line with government requirements, and will continue to help as compulsory subjects are extended (to include U2, U3 and U4 levels) over the next two years.

The year also saw progress in research and knowledge transfer activities. NUBS’ executive education team continued developing this important area and it is hoped that other schools will draw on this experience to develop their own operations. The faculty recorded good results in grant capture; 100% success rate with FRGS (three grants from NUBS), and two (NUBS/NSE, out of five) in the final round of grants made available by the University’s IGS research priority group.

A highlight was SMLC’s Watching the Watchdog project, led by Tessa Houghton, which studied media activity during Malaysia’s 13th general election in May 2013, and received considerable media coverage itself. Professor Rom Nain (SMLC) accepted the position of Associate Dean for Research (AD(R)), with responsibility for overseeing faculty research activities. The AD(R) also oversees the fortnightly FASS research seminar, the faculty’s research ethics committee, and has responsibility for promoting the interests of its burgeoning community of PG research students. The faculty also housed the campus’s Early Career Researchers’ Network, which holds regular seminars and workshops, the University’s Knowledge Without Borders Network, and the MYEULINK team, whose four-year EU-funded project ended in early 2014.

Our student body has continued to do the faculty proud. Dedicated administrative resource in the FASS and NUBS offices have helped our students get the most out of their time here and maximise their extra-curricula activities. Notable highlights include a panel discussion on Palestinian-Israeli in December, and UNMC’s first ‘model United Nations’ conference in June 2013, NUBS students’ success in winning the Schneider Electric Go Green in the City Malaysia Competition in April and the prestigious GE, one of the Top 10 Fortune 500 companies in the world, University Challenge 2013 competition in November, a NUBS/PHIR student was short-listed for Graduate of the Year and has won a place on GSK’s Future Leaders programme, and NSE, PHIR and Education all graduated their first PGR (PhD) students.

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The faculty continues to be the largest recruiter of students and, as planned, numbers have not changed significantly this year. To support students in their learning, there has been considerable investment in buildings and workshop equipment. The high quality of our students is recognised by employers who pay our graduates above the national average.

Civil Engineering: With the large number of infrastructure projects (eg LRT extension, MRT) in Malaysia, there is a continuing demand for civil engineers, and our student numbers continue to grow. To offer a higher quality learning experience, there have been significant changes to the laboratories; a 200sqm, (RM0.5m) extension to the mixing laboratory and the relocation of the geotechnical laboratories to block C. The move was finished just in time for the JBM accreditation panel visit in November.

Mechanical Engineering: Understanding how an object is manufactured is an essential soft skill for mechanical engineers. As a result of a RM1.0m investment, our students’ experience of acquiring this skill set has been significantly aided by a new mechanical workshop, built underneath block D and giving students access to modern cutting machines. All faculty visitors will be shown around the workshop.With departmental help, linkages to the profession have been aided by the establishment of a student branch of the IMechE.

Electrical and Electronic Engineering: In December, two student teams from Electrical and Electronic Engineering competed in the Moto INNOCUP, a national level embedded design competition. The theme of the competition was to design a Gesture – Next Generation Smart User Input Device. Both teams were complimented on their well-designed posters and their confidence and ability to “sell” an engineering product. Our teams’ hard work paid off when they were announced second runner-up and champions.

Chemical Engineering: Ninety alumni visited the campus to meet old friends and reminisce in an event to mark the department’s 10 years in Malaysia. Teaching and learning excellence has been improved further by the introduction of a residential field trip at Port Dickson, which provides students with the opportunity to undertake a real environmental assessment.

Support Departments: The continued popularity of the foundation year provides a firm base for our recruitment into the degree programmes. With large student numbers on all of its modules, Applied Mathematics has been developing new electronic-based methodologies for both formative and summative assessment.

Accreditation: Despite the ECUK and the BEM being members of the Washington Accord, the differences in accreditation requirements continue to be a major hurdle in long-term local accreditation of our degree programmes. The JBM visit in November continued to


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show the UK professional bodies are impressed by our campus and provision.

Staff: Staff continue to contribute to the University’s global aspirations by delivering modules and training at all levels to both the UK and China campus. Several people over the year have stood down from managerial positions (Dino Isa, Andrew Spowage, Terence Wong) – the faculty would like to thank them for their contributions. Congratulations should also be sent to Denny Ng and Dominic Foo for their external awards (IChemE, Japanese Society of Chemical Engineers).The faculty is taking the campus lead in raising awareness on gender balance through the WINSET initiative.

Research: The faculty is strong in research and has a healthy grant portfolio of RM15m from a variety of income streams (MOSTI, MoE and Industry). The

faculty has published over 100 papers indexed by Scopus and engineering staff have been the campus top publishers for several years. Three papers in the Computers and Chemical Engineering Journal (Impact factor of 2.091) co-authored by Denny Ng, Hon Loong Lam and Dominic Foo have been identified by Elsevier as the most cited papers between 2010-2012.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Choong Wee Kang has been leading an initiative to ensure the campus delivers its mission at the local level. He has organised school visits to inspire local schoolchildren. Raising awareness of accessibility in Civil Engineering design has been another aim of his. The faculty has also been at the forefront in developing the environment policy of the campus mainly due to the strong leadership of Svenja Hanson, who is now Chair of the Campus Environment Committee.

From left to right: Yong Hua Nguon, postgraduate MSc Mechanical Engineering, and Sami Davtalab Bashm, postgraduate PhD Mechanical Engineering.

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Undergraduate Samuel Cox working in the Faculty of Science at UNMC.

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The Faculty of Science has enjoyed an extremely successful year. Highlights include two of our staff winning Vice-Chancellor Achievement Awards and two winning Dearing Awards for excellence in teaching. The winners of the VC Achievement Awards were Ahimsa Campos, for his outstanding research into the management and ecology of Malaysian elephants, and Ting Kang Nee, for her excellent work in support of cancer charities.

Ahimsa has received a succession of significant research grants and has published in world-leading high impact journals. He has delivered keynote addresses at various prestigious meetings, including two at our UK campus, one of which was presided by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Greenaway.

Kang Nee completed a sponsored hike to Everest base camp to raise funds for cancer research, in addition to a range of other charitable activities. She raised significant funds, worked hard to raise the profile of the issues associated with cancer, and delivered an engaging campus talk about her Everest expedition. Kang Nee was also honoured with an Alumni Laureate Award from the Vice-Chancellor.

Further successes were seen in the arena of teaching excellence. Tim Brailsford and Andrew Morris won Lord Dearing awards. This is the second time Tim has received a Dearing Award – a unique achievement for an academic at The University of Nottingham’s international campuses. He received this reward principally in recognition of his campus-wide leadership in technology-enhanced learning. Andrew Morris received the award on behalf of the UNMC Pharmacy team, who worked tirelessly to comprehensively revise the MPharm programme. The work done at UNMC was University-wide, culminating in a new Pharmacy flagship programme offered at the UK and Malaysia campuses.

The faculty has grown considerably over the past few years.2013 saw the largest intake in our history, despite the problems regarding visas for international students. We met – and in some areas exceeded – our intake and income targets. Notable areas where intake targets were exceeded were seen in the Department of Biomedical Science and in the School of Computer Science. The faculty manages its budget prudently, meaning that we make a strong operational surplus that contributes significantly to the good financial health of UNMC. We have grown our complement of academic

staff and our range of laboratory facilities to cater for the increase in student numbers over the past few years. In particular, we have extended teaching and research facilities in the School of Biosciences.

We have expanded the management structure in line with faculty growth, with the appointment of three associate deans. Dr Nash Billa is Associate Dean for Research, Dr Winnie Yap is Associate Dean for Teaching, and Dr Kirsten McKenzie is Associate Dean for Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing. The three roles are paramount in the success of the faculty. These three talented individuals are allocated funding to seed research that will be world-leading, to support teaching projects to ensure that we continue to perform at an outstanding level, and to invest in marketing activities that will ultimately pay dividends in the form of target-exceeding student recruitment.

We said farewell to Professor Mike Steven when he completed his period as founding Head of the School of Geography; we wish Mike all the very best for his relocation to the UK campus and we warmly thank him for all his pioneering work. We were delighted to welcome the new Head, Dr Suzanne McGowan.

The students are a credit not only to UNMC but to The University of Nottingham as a whole. They display a commendable work-ethic, with great ability, focus and commitment. It is pleasing that the efforts of our students are recognised, with a high proportion graduating with ‘good’ degree classifications. Indeed, in some programmes there is a higher proportion of first-class grades at UNMC than at the UK campus.

Excellence in our students is also evident outside of the arena of academic life. Faculty of Science students lead some of the major societies associated with community engagement projects, notably the ACE society. The achievements of Ben Hunte, a UNMC Psychology student, illustrate how multi-faceted our students talents are. Blue Peter, the long-running children’s programme hosted by BBC TV, ran a televised quest to find a presenter. Ben entered and appeared in several episodes, right up to the final, where he finished runner up. The producers were clearly very impressed and it seems that there will be various TV broadcasting opportunities available to Ben when he graduates in the summer of 2014.

Faculty of Science

Notable campus visitorsThe campus has welcomed many important visitors who have given significant inspirational talks to the students and staff. These include• Neil Morris, Vice-President, BP• Sir Andrew Witty, Chancellor of the University of

Nottingham and CEO, GSK • Mike Gascoygne, Caterham Technology and former

F1 technical manager• Robin Grimes Chief Scientific Advisor for the UK

Foreign and Commonwealth Office• Dato Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Education,

Government of Malaysia

Highlights

Provost Christine Ennew meets Mike Gascoygne, Caterham Technology and former F1 technical manager.

The launch of Nottingham MyResearch at UNMC.

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University Alumni Laureate Awards

Special Excellence Award: Kang Nee Ting (BPharm 1995, PhD Biomedical Sciences 1999, PGCHE 2009)Lifetime Achievement Award: Tengku Tan Sri Rithauddeen (Law 1954, Hon LLD 2002)

UNMC Alumni of the Year Molly Fong (MBA 2011) Wang Zhan Bo (Finance and Accounting 2004)

•Honorary DegreesHonorary Degrees were awarded to• Anthony Cooper, in recognition of his charitable

work and outstanding business career• Tan Sri Professor Dzulkifli for his contribution to

education in Malaysia and internationally• Mr Teh Beng Choon, for his work with the National

Autism Society of Malaysia

Kang Nee Ting (BPharm 1995, PhD Biomedical Sciences 1999, PGCHE 2009) – pictured here at Everest Base Camp, received a Special Excellence Award in the Alumni Laureate Awards.

Exhibit 4: Student numbers on masters programmes (May census date)

Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


17 32 35 52 44

Malaysian 5 7 13 14 13


Faculty of Science

6 11 32 29 30

Malaysian 4 4 5 5 7



406 458 388 414 359

Malaysian 236 279 237 255 220

International 170 179 151 159 139

Total 429 501 455 495 433

Malaysian 245 290 255 274 240

International 184 211 200 221 193

Exhibit 5: Student numbers on PhD programmes (May census date)

Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


67 110 116 124 137

Malaysian 60 91 91 90 95


Faculty of Science

33 44 59 82 92

Malaysian 23 35 48 67 70



40 56 63 57 56

Malaysian 26 34 36 33 33


Total 140 210 238 263 285

Malaysian 109 160 175 190 198


1May provides a consistent measurement point immediately after the April Foundation and prior to July intake and graduation.

Exhibit 3: Student numbers on undergraduate programmes (May census date)

Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


1248 1319 1342 1453 1534

Malaysian 905 928 976 1051 1129

International 343 391 366 402 405

Faculty of Science

282 314 378 483 628

Malaysian 176 187 259 375 501

International 106 127 119 108 127


583 716 769 804 810

Malaysian 276 339 347 397 420

International 307 377 422 407 390

Total 2113 2349 2489 2740 2972

Malaysian 1357 1454 1582 1823 2050

International 756 895 907 917 922


Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


326 352 391 439 443

Malaysian 253 268 298 362 357


Faculty of Science

53 54 92 193 288

Malaysian 31 45 74 162 259



181 137 187 295 348

Malaysian 111 98 122 188 245


Total 560 543 670 927 1079

Malaysian 395 411 494 712 861

International 165 132 176 215 218

Appendix 1: Student and staff data

28


Study level 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Foundation 560 543 670 927 1079

UG 2113 2349 2489 2740 2972

PGT 429 501 455 495 433

PGR 140 210 238 263 285

Total 3242 3603 3852 4425 4769

Summary financial information: 2012 financial year

29

Exhibit 9: Malaysian student population by ethnicity

Ethnicity 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Bumi 11 10 9 14 24

Chinese 1461 1593 1718 2065 2314

Indian 206 233 252 260 261

Malay 402 453 488 617 701

Others 26 26 39 43 49

Total 2106 2315 2506 2999 3349

Exhibit 7: Applications by year of entry

Exhibit 6: Student numbers full-time vs part-time (May census date)

Subject area 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013


1658 1813 1884 2068 2158

Full-time 1645 1788 1855 2039 2133

Part-time 13 25 29 29 25

Faculty of Science

374 423 561 787 1038

Full-time 371 417 555 779 1016

Part-time 3 6 6 8 22


1210 1360 1403 1570 1573

Full-time 908 1018 1105 1265 1305

Part-time 302 342 298 305 268

Total 3242 3596 3848 4425 4769

Exhibit 8: Registrations by year of entry

Nationality 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Algerian 2 1 2 2 2

American 7 5 8 16 16

Australian 0 1 2 3 3

Austrian 0 0 1 1 1

Bahraini 5 5 5 6 8

Bangladeshi 23 33 37 50 54

Belgian 0 0 0 0 1

Botswana 113 103 1 1 0

Brazilian 1 1 98 31 0

British 25 23 32 35 41

British-HK 1 2 2 1 0

Brunei PR 0 1 2 2 1

Bruneian 2 2 3 0 3

Burmese 0 0 0 0 1

Burundian 1 0 2 0 0

Cambodian 0 0 1 1 0

Cameroonian 1 2 2 0 0

Canadian 4 4 5 4 3

Chadian 0 0 1 1 2

Chilean 1 0 1 0 0

Chinese 0 0 1 34 4

Chinese-China 48 41 39 38 62

Chinese-HK 1 1 0 0 0

Chinese-Taiwan 4 4 5 1 0

Djiboutian 0 1 1 1 0

Dutch 3 2 1 1 1

Egyptian 4 10 14 18 36

Ethiopian 1 1 1 0 1

Fijian 0 0 0 1 0

Filipino 2 4 5 7 7

French 1 2 2 3 3

Gambian 0 0 0 1 0

German 3 4 3 4 2

Ghanaian 2 2 4 2 4

Icelander 1 1 0 0 1

Indian 77 87 100 93 107

Indonesian 54 47 53 40 51

Iranian 21 26 31 52 39

Iraqi 7 9 10 17 12

Irish 0 1 1 1 2

Japanese 0 3 4 4 8

Jordanian 3 4 6 6 4

Kazakhstani 15 32 35 51 72

Kenyan 49 48 37 28 26

Korean 14 24 47 58 2

Kyrgyz 0 0 0 1 0

Kyrgyzstani 0 0 1 1 1

Lebanese 1 0 1 1 0

Libyan 2 1 1 1 0

Malagasy 1 1 0 1 2

Malawian 1 1 2 2 2

Maldivian 42 45 41 33 27

Maltese 0 1 0 0 0

Mauritian 24 28 44 57 73

Mauritius 0 0 0 1 0

Moroccan 0 0 0 1 0

Myanmar 5 4 7 12 10

Nepalese 0 1 1 2 3

Netherlander 0 0 0 0 1

New Zealander 0 0 0 2 2

Nigerian 142 142 80 57 54

Norwegian 2 3 1 0 0

Omani 2 3 1 16 33

Pakistani 125 182 214 240 216

Pakistani/British 1 2 2 1 0

Palestinian 1 1 1 2 4

Polish 0 1 0 1 1

Russian 3 4 8 5 3

Rwandese 0 0 1 1 0

Saudi 0 0 2 0 0

Seychellois 0 0 0 0 2

Singaporean 9 13 14 21 24

Somali 3 6 6 9 7

South African 0 0 1 1 1

South Korean 0 0 0 2 50

Spanish 0 1 0 0 0

Sri Lankan 108 132 108 127 117

Sudanese 41 52 60 58 47

Swazi 1 0 0 0 0

Swiss 1 1 1 0 0

Syrian 2 2 3 6 6

Taiwan 2 3 3 4 0

Taiwanese 0 0 0 0 4

Tajikistani 0 1 3 3 2

Tanzanian 28 32 36 31 23

Thai 5 4 4 5 6

Trinidian/Tobagonian 0 0 0 0 1

Tunisian 0 1 2 2 1

Uganda 0 1 0 0 0

Ugandan 8 14 16 11 14

Ukrainian 2 1 0 0 0

Exhibit 10: International students by country of origin

Uzbek 1 4 7 9 0

Uzbekistani 0 0 0 2 7

Vietnamese 63 51 53 65 78

Yemeni 11 10 12 11 8

Yemenite 0 0 0 0 2

Zambian 1 1 3 4 5

Zimbabwean 2 1 1 2 3

Total 1136 1288 1346 1426 1420

Exhibit 11: Academic staff numbers as of end September

2009 2010 20112 2012 2013

Engineering 115 113 84 84 101

Science 30 45 31 54 61

Arts & Soc. Sciences 52 48 73 73 85

Total academic 197 206 188 211 247

Total all 395 427 452 487 579

Exhibit 13: SSRs overtime

2009 2010 20113 2012 2013

Engineering 19.1 19.2 23.0 24.7 20.0

Science 13.0 17.3 23.2 18.5 16.9

Arts & Soc. Sciences 29.9 25.6 19.6 20.8 19.6

Overall 22.2 20.9 22.4 21.8 18.8

2 Reflects a recatergorisation of research assistants from staff to students3 Reflects a recatergorisation of research assistants from staff to students

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Exhibit 12: Non-academic staff numbers as of end September

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Engineering 58 62 65 43 52

Science 21 23 18 28 31

Arts & Soc. Sciences 15 17 16 21 85

Central 104 119 165 184 224

Total 198 221 264 276 332

Exhibit 14: SSRs (October 2013)

UoN-UK4 UNMC UNNC5

Engineering 18.9 20.0 8.9

Science 16.6 19.6 22.4

Arts & Soc. Sciences 18.1 16.9 14.8

Overall 17.9 18.8 15.4

4 UK figures are FTE based and unweighted averages for relevant faculties only.5 Total is an unweighted average.

Appendix 2: Summary financial information

RM

Income

Tuition fee income 126,292,223.49

Scholarship awarded (12,919,035.29)

Uncollected tuition fee (229,080.26)

Net tuition fee 113,144,107.94

Other income 4,350,169.57

Net income 117,494,277.51

Operating expenses

Pay costs 49,523,966.64

Non-pay costs 62,824,975.18

Total operating cost 112,348,941.82

Surplus before tax 5,145,335.69

Taxation 2,198,135.75

Surplus after tax 7,343,471.44

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