Nerdy Science Blog

Farha Abdol Ghapar, Monash University PhD student at Monash Asia-Pacific Centre for Science and Wealth Creation, Australia and a lecturer at UiTM, Malaysia, presented on a seminar topic “Does Patenting Pay Off for Malaysian Firms?” at Monash University Sunway campus on April 19, 2010.  Farha’s studies showed that there is a significant positive relation between patenting activity and sales and profits.  She also presented in the seminar that larger and more established firms are more likely to benefits from patenting activity.

During the seminar, Professor Michael Vitale, co-supervisor of Farha and director of the centre brought up an interesting slide showing a sharp increase of patents granted in 2006 and 2007.  Some of the attendees joked the hike was due to political factor.

Education in Malaysia:

A professor from UiTM in the faculty of chemical engineering has informed us of an opportunity for students looking to pursue their PhD in the field. We are publishing this notice as a public service for interested students, and this should not be taken as an endorsement of the programme. The details:

Ph.D. studentship opportunities

Master’s degree holders interested to pursue Ph.D. in any of the following research themes at Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA are invited to forward their CVs to yinyang@salam.uitm.edu.my and yinyang@streamyx.com. A stipend will be provided for the suitable candidate to support his/her study.

The research themes are:

1) Hazardous waste treatment (e-waste; soil, water and air decontamination).
2) Synthesis and application of nanoporous materials.
3) Life cycle assessment
4) Clean technologies
5) Brownfield management

Candidates that show excellent progress during their study shall be considered for paid short-term research placements in either Japan, South Korea, Australia or Germany. The selection criteria for this Ph.D. studentship are listed in the following:

1) Good written english;
2) Published at least an ISI-indexed journal article as the first author (preferably – not essential);
3) Graduated either cum laude or has at least an Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate engineering or science degree.