Professor Wahid and Sir Robert Alan exchanging documents at Main Meeting Hall.
JOHOR BAHRU, 21 April – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the University of Leeds agreed to strengthen collaboration in the areas of student and staff exchange, joint research and publication, and education.
The discussion to strengthen the existing relationship between the two universities ended with the signing of the Letter of Cooperation UTM Vice-Chancellor, Prof Datuk Ir. Dr. Wahid Omar and his counterpart Sir Robert Alan Langlands.
The meeting was attended by Prof Dr. Andy Gouldson (Professor of Environmental Policy and Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor) and Ms. Jacqui Brown (Head of International Office) from the University of Leeds.
Meanwhile UTM was represented by Prof Dr Nordin Yahaya (Senior Director- UTM International), Assoc Prof Dr Hamdan Said (Deputy Director – UTM International), Hj Zainul Abdul Rashid (Manager – UTM International), Prof Dr Mohamad Nazri Mohd Jaafar (Institute For Vehicle Systems And Engineering), Prof Dr Ir Farid Nasir Hj Ani (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering).
After the meeting, Prof Dr Mohamad Nazri Mohd Jaafar brought the delegation for a short tour to the UTM Institute For Vehicle Systems And Engineering.
At present, there are 15 alumni of the University of Leeds working at UTM. Due to work commitments, only eight of them attended the meeting. The meeting proposed that the alumni of the University of Leeds is to initiate high impact programmes particularly in research collaboration to consolidate the bridge between the two universities.
The University of Leeds was established in 1904, and is currently one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK. The university has more than 31,000 students including 1,277 students coming from EU countries and 5,697 from other international countries. International students come from 147 countries.
The University of Leeds is considered the 8th largest university in the UK (out of 165). From 2006 to present, the university has consistently been ranked within the top 5 universities (alongside Manchester University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Nottingham University and Edinburgh University) in the United Kingdom for the number of applications received. The university had a total income of £639.6 million in 2014/15, of which £152.1 million was from research grants and contracts. The university has financial endowments of £66.7 million (2014–15) and is ranked as one of the top 10 British universities by financial endowment.
For 2015-16, the University of Leeds is ranked nationally between 14th (Times and Sunday Times) and 23rd (The Guardian). Internationally, the university is ranked as the 32nd best in Europe and globally ranked 87th in the 2015 QS World University Rankings and 101–150 (2015 ARWU). The University of Leeds was ranked 10th in the UK for research power in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the best result in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and between 2014–15, was ranked as the 10th most targeted British university by the UK’s top graduate employers.