Universiti Sains Malaysia

Science University of Malaysia
اونيۏرسيتي ساءينﺱ مليسيا (Jawi) ; மலேசிய அறிவியல் பல்கலைக்கழகம் (Tamil)
	Coat of arms
Motto	Kami Memimpin (Malay)
Motto in English	We Lead
Type	Public research university
Established	1 June 1969
Chancellor	Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail (Raja of Perlis)
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Dato' Seri Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed (FASc)
Academic staff	2,206
Students	24,375 (2016)
Undergraduates	17,306 (2016)
Postgraduates	7,069 (2016)
Address	Level 1, Building E42, Chancellory II Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800 USM Penang, Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
Campus	Main Campus; (Gelugor, Penang); Health Campus; (Kubang Kerian, Kelantan); Engineering Campus; (Nibong Tebal, Penang); International Medical Programme Campus; (Belgaum, India)
Colours	Purple and orange;
Affiliations	ASAIHL, ACU, FUIW, APUCEN, UAiTED
Website	www.usm.my

Universiti Sains Malaysia (lit. 'Science University of Malaysia'; abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is among the oldest institutes of higher learning in Northern Malaysia. It has three campuses: a main campus on the island of Penang, a health campus in Kelantan, and an engineering campus in Nibong Tebal.

USM is the only Accelerated Programs for Excellence (APEX) government-funded autonomous university in Malaysia.^[4]^[5] Like most of other universities in Malaysia, USM also used English as its medium of instruction.

History

The idea of a university in Penang was first mooted by D. S. Ramanathan in 1959 in the State Assembly and later crystallised when he was nominated chairman of the Penang University Project committee.^[6] The acquisition of a piece of land in Sungai Ara was then followed by the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman on 7 August 1967.

USM was established as a statutory body and the second university in Malaysia in 1969. It was first known as the University of Penang (Malay: Universiti Pulau Pinang). The university operated on borrowed premises at the Malayan Teachers' Training College at Gelugor, with only 57 science-based students in the beginning. In 1971, it moved to its present 239-hectare site at Minden (formerly Minden Barracks of the British Far East Command) in Gelugor, 10 kilometres from the city of Georgetown.

Apart from the main campus, there are two other USM campuses: one at Kubang Kerian in Kelantan, known as the Health campus, and the other at Seri Ampangan, Nibong Tebal in Penang, known as the Engineering campus. The former houses the School of Medical Sciences, the School of Health Sciences, and the School of Dental Sciences, while the latter houses the six engineering schools.

On 3 September 2008, the Ministry of Higher Education under Mohamed Khaled Nordin selected USM to implement the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX), a fast-track development programme created to enable institutions of higher education to be recognised as world-class entities.^[7]^[8]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Universiti Sains Malaysia was first introduced in June 1972 and modernized in 2009. Its initial draft was designed by York Heralds of Arms in London, before being perfected by an artist and Penang Free School (PFS) teacher, Mr. G.S. Reutens.^[9]

The arms feature a crescent moon and a fourteen-pointed federal star, two tigers holding palm fronds, a native shield, and a motto. The shield itself displays an open book in front of a pair of crisscrossed krises (Malay dagger) in the chief (upper part) and the national flower Bunga Raya or Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower in the base (remainder). The open book represents knowledge, the krises represent royalty, the crescent represents Islam, the 14-pointed federal star represents the thirteen states and the Federal Territories, the tigers represent strength and courage and the palm fronds represent economic prosperity.^[10]^[11]

Although these arms contain much local symbolism, they generally conform to traditional English heraldic principles and maybe blazoned as follows.

Shield: Purpure in chief in front of two krises in saltire an open book and in base a Bunga Raya or hibiscus flower all proper.

Crest: On a wreath of the Colours a crescent therefrom issuant a fourteen-pointed federal star Or.

Supporters: Two tigers rampant, each holding a palm frond proper.

Motto: "Kami Memimpin" (Malay: "We Lead")

Since 2003, the USM coat of arms has been accompanied by the university's logotype designed by Anthony Tan Chee Kian, featuring the initials U, S and M attached to one another and the university's name in full written in capital letters –'UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA' as seen on its corporate logo.

Universiti Sains Malaysia is currently one of the three public universities in Malaysia to adopt its coat of arms, the other two are the University of Malaya and the National University of Malaysia.

List of vice-chancellors

The following is a list of vice-chancellors of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

No.	Vice-Chancellor	Academic Qualification	Honorable & Awards Received	Term in office
1	Hamzah Sendut	Bachelor of Arts in Geography(Malaya), Master of Civil Design(Liverpool), PhD in Science(Tokyo).	PSM, DSPN, Hon. Doc.(Strathclyde), Hon. Doc.(Kyung Hee), Hon Doc.(USM)	1969–1976
2	Hamdan Sheikh Tahir	Bachelor of Arts in History(Malaya), Master of Social Science(Nottingham).	SMN, PSM, DMPN, KMN, Hon. Doc.(USM), Hon. Doc.(UPM)	1976–1982
3	Musa Mohamad	Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy(Singapore), Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Technology(London).	PSM, DSPN, Hon. Doc.(USM), Hon. Doc.(UMS), Hon. Doc.(UNIMAP), Hon. Doc.(UTHM), Hon. Doc.(UMT), Hon. Doc.(UCSI).	1982–1995
4	Ishak Tambi Kechik			1995–2000
5	Dzulkifli Abdul Razak	Bachelor of Pharmacy(USM), Master of Science in Pharmacology(Strathclyde).	PSM, DSPN, Hon. Doc.(Portsmouth), Hon. Doc.(Nottingham), Hon. Doc.(Istanbul).	2000–2011
6	Omar Osman	Bachelor of Science in Quantity Surveying(USM), Master of Science in Construction Management(Heriot-Watt), PhD in Project Management(London).	DSPJ.	2011–2016
7	Asma Ismail	Bachelor of Science in Biology(Nevada), Master of Science in Microbiology(Indiana), PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology(Nevada).	PJN, Hon. Doc.(Glasgow), Hon. Doc.(Keele), Hon. Doc.(Kyoto).	2016–2019
8	Faisal Rafiq Mahamd Adikan	Bachelor of Electrical & Electronical Engineering(Manchester), Master of Engineering(Malaya), PhD in Integrated Optical Devices(Southampton).	DMPN	2019-2022
9	Abdul Rahman Mohamed	Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (Southern California), Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (New Hampshire), PhD in Chemical Engineering (New Hampshire).	D.S.P.J., J.M.N., B.C.N., FASc., CEng., FIChemE, P.Eng	2023-Present

Organisation

Chief Integrity Officer

In July 2012, following a presentation by the Chief of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the VC of USM promised to create a new role of Chief Integrity Officer to cultivate academic integrity among students, lecturers, and staff.^[12] The current Chief Integrity Officer is Dr. Khairul Anuar Che Azmi, the university's first ombudsman, and is also the Legal Advisor.

Campuses

Location of the main campus in Penang

The Main campus has the name of a German city (Minden) because the campus was built on the territory of the former British Minden Barracks, which themselves were named after the Battle of Minden.

Besides the main campus in Minden, USM has one at Kubang Kerian in Kelantan known as Health Campus, and another at Seri Ampangan, Nibong Tebal in mainland Penang known as Engineering Campus.

Started as a USM hospital in 1982, the Health campus has expanded after the School of Medical Science was moved from the main campus to the present site which is 73 hectares. The School of Medical Science was moved from the main campus in June 1984. There are two other schools on the health campus — the School of Dental Science and the School of Allied Health Sciences.

The Engineering Campus was originally located at Tronoh, Perak, and named Perak Branch Campus (KCP). After operating in the state for 15 years (1986–2001), the Engineering Campus moved to the present site in Nibong Tebal, Penang.

The Library of Universiti Sains Malaysia is located on campus.

Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra: The main auditorium of USM on the main campus on Penang Island
The main gate of the main campus
The international office of USM now known as International Mobility & Collaboration Centre or IMCC

Activities

USM provides sporting facilities such as archery range, cricket, football field, badminton courts, tennis courts, hockey ground, rugby field, softball, squash courts, and basketball courts. Its ground was used for the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup.

Among others, USM has a jazz orchestra called the USM Jazz Band that is composed of student musicians from various schools in the university.^[13]