Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Suranaree University Of Technology (SUT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to engage in Research and Development (R&D) collaboration in the area of agriculture and food technology.
The MoU was signed by the vice chancellor of UTM, Prof. Datuk Ts. Dr. Ahmad Fauzi bin Ismail and the rector of SUT, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anan Tongraar. It was commenced from 7th December and remain in force for three years.
This collaboration is an initiative from UTM Research Management Centre (RMC) Industrial and International Network Unit to help researchers obtain international grants through the Southeast Asia and Taiwan Universities (SATU) JOINT RESEARCH SCHEME (JRS) 2021 program.
Under this program, this collaboration initiative was created and led by Ts. Dr. Nicole Leong Hong Yeng, Innovation Centre in Agritechnology for Advanced Bioprocessing (ICA), UTM and Assistant Professor Dr. Kamolchanok Umnajkitikorn, Institute of Agricultural Technology (IAT), SUT.
ICA is a research centre of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia located in the Pagoh district of Johor. ICA is one of the research centres of higher education institutions based in the Pagoh Higher Education Hub (HPTP) which is an education development project under the Malaysian Ministry of Education. As one of the Centres of Excellence, ICA focuses on the development of innovative agricultural technology aimed at promoting human health and well-being.
Institute of Agricultural technology (IAT) is an institute of SUT that focuses on research and teaching in agriculture and food biotechnology. IAT is one of the most established centres in Thailand in the field of biotechnology and food production technique research.
This deliberate cooperation enables sharing and exchanging of knowledge and resources between UTM and SUT for research and student development. Several initiatives have been discussed such as joint research and publication, students and academic staffs exchange programme, and joint research seminar, workshop and conference. Apart from that, this collaboration is expected to further enhance the global standing of both institutions at the national and global levels.