PhD Scholarship in Malaysia

[misled_youth]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if you guys are knowledgable about how to go about begging for PhD scholarships in Malaysia?

I'm a BA (Honours) stu in Perth. I"m trying hard to get first class. If I getit, then can ask Aussie uni's for scholarship.

But being very patriotic *ahem* I want to get it in Msia. Who to go to for sponsorship?

If not... then too bad... will just ask some kwailow to sponsor. Talk about brain drain!
________
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[abdullah]

Just wondering if you guys are knowledgable about how to go about begging for PhD scholarships in Malaysia?

Have you considered the US? If admitted, almost all postgraduate programs (Masters and PhD) in science/engineering/technology are free.

You even get a stipend to pay for your food and lodging.

[chenchow]

misled_youth, the criteria for JPA Scholarships for Master and PhD programs are graduating with first class honours, getting acceptance from prestigious universities that is within JPA list, the courses that you are taking are so-called critical courses(Engineering, Biotech, Medicine, Pharmacy, CS, Economics, Actuarial Science, Architecture etc..) and a few other criteria.

Please contact JPA for further information.

[misled_youth]

Just wondering if you guys are knowledgable about how to go about begging for PhD scholarships in Malaysia?

Have you considered the US? If admitted, almost all postgraduate programs (Masters and PhD) in science/engineering/technology are free.

You even get a stipend to pay for your food and lodging.

Sounds almost too good to be true! Where do I get more info?
________
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[motong]

National Science Fellowship

This is a special pre-service scholarship scheme designed to provide financial support to graduates who are Malaysian citizens to pursue higher degrees (at M.Sc. and PhD. level ) in S&T areas at identified local universities.

Details:

Application is invited twice a year (March-April & September-October) by advertisement in the local press and/or electronic media.

For further information on any of the above scheme, please contact:

Secretariat HRD Programme (S&T),
Science and Technology Division,
Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment,
Level 2, Block C5, Parcel C,
Federal Government Administration Centre,
62662 PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA.

Tel: +603-8885 8300
Fax: +603-8889 2996
e-mail: progmanagerhrd@<hidden>

http://www.mastic.gov.my/static/mastic/index.html

You should check the Perdana Fellowship. I do not have their contact info, but I heard that they offer full scholarships for PhD studies with no specific bond (only need to return to Malaysia after graduation).

For studies in the UK, check the Commonwealth scholarship and the Rhodes.

[jiinjoo]

I think I can hook you up with a Perdana scholar if you want more info about that, just send me email to remind me. He's been in Stanford for quite a while now.

motong, thanks for the info - that was really good information you've got there! We'll include it in our scholarship resource.

[cquayhl]

Sounds almost too good to be true! Where do I get more info?

misled_youth,

It is true. What is your field?

For the sciences (especially the lab sciences) generally your dissertation supervisor pays you out of their research grants.

For arts subjects, at top universities, generally you'll have funding for about five years, after which you'll have to apply for outside funding. At the very worst, you might have to teach a few classes to support yourself.

For more information, you can contact the individual departments. You need to act fast though. Most applications are due in early January. But don't be afraid to send things in late. Lots of anecdotes of people who were a month late and still got in places.

In the UK funding is also available but is much more problematic. E.g. when I was deciding where to do my PhD, I found that most fellowships tenable at Cambridge last only three years. Almost all PhDs take longer than that.

Also, why get your PhD in Malaysia? Maybe I'm being unpatriotic, but I think I'm just being realistic....but I would think that for the most part, the US degrees are much more marketable. Not to mention the fact that getting your degree in a good lab here gets you a foot in the door of the old boys' network, which sadly means half the battle won already when it comes time to look for a job.

I wish I'd seen this post earlier. Like I said, feel free to e-mail me with questions! Good luck.

Cheers,
Charis.

[cheongsoon]

If your field is humanities/social sciences, I'll be happy to give you my two-sen worth.

Drop me a line.

cheers,
cheong soon

[dinna_g]

In the UK funding is also available but is much more problematic. E.g. when I was deciding where to do my PhD, I found that most fellowships tenable at Cambridge last only three years. Almost all PhDs take longer than that.

Charis,

Isn't PhD program's in the UK take ~3 years only? I think that's the reason why the fellowship fund 3 yrs only. But I'm not sure about this. Can you give me more info about the length of PhD program, I'm thinking of doing it in the UK (If I ever end up doing it).

~Dinna

[cquayhl]

Dinna,

I'm not really the right person to ask this question of. I've heard similar things from some people, but then I also know people whose PhDs in the UK have taken four or more years. I suppose I just didn't want to be in a situation where the possibility of running out of funding was hanging over my head and my still-not-working experiment. PhDs take time and you have to give them time if you want to get a solid degree. There are any number of things you have no control over at all. Someone I know took >7 years to do a rather difficult experiment. No results for years and years and at the end a paper each in Science and Nature.

Another thing to consider: Most British PhD programmes don't require classes. I'm not sure if this is because most people alreadly have masters degrees coming in and don't need classes or whether it's because British BAs are more comprehensive than American ones. It was something I considered because I definitely felt like I needed more coursework when I started my PhD. Classes also mean a longer PhD.

Also...in many fields, the US is the place to be at the moment. There's just much more money floating around here for one thing. (Don't forget your stipend is a substantial fraction but still only a fraction of the cost of research.) And for the things I was thinking of doing, more/less the only place in the UK were things were happening was Cambridge and there weren't too many people there either. It helps to have a community. It also helps to have options in case the person you intended to work under (a) turns out to be a jerk (b) is bought out by another university (c) doesn't want to take on any students. I always tell people to make sure wherever they go, they have 3-4 labs in mind that they think they could be happy in.

An unsubstantiated statement: for whatever reason, UK PhDs seem to be viewed as less comprehensive and less valuable on the academic job market here. I'm not sure why this is, but I do know someone who got a PhD at Cambridge in two years, was not very happy with the training he received and started over again here. It seems that people with PhDs from the UK tend to do longer postdocs. But I have no hard facts or figures.

A lot depends what you want to do with your degree. You should talk to your current supervisor about where you should go given your research interests and career aspirations. You might also want to talk to people who've done their degree in the UK...people on this side of the Atlantic may have a skewed view of things.

Sorry I'm not much help. Feel free to e-mail me if you have more questions about US PhD programmes.

Cheers,
Charis.

[dinna_g]

Charis,

Honestly, it's really helpful. I'm not planning to do my PhD yet. If I do, it won't be until another couple of years or so. Currently, I hate the states and I know that I don't wanna spend another year in this country. So I'm thinking, if I were to do my PhD, it has to be somewhere else.. hahaha.. About no class requirement, I already know about that and I think you don't need master's to get in because a friend of mine was going to do PhD sponsored by UM in the UK and all she has is a bachelor's degree. But anyway, she decided not to go in the end because she chose to get married. And yeah, I also notice that UK graduates tend to do longer postdocs. But then, I don't wanna be an academician..

Oh yea, about the length of PhD, I know it all depends on how your work goes. There's this one prof in our dept here, has 2 students who've been here for 7 years and haven't graduated. There's another faculty that most of his students graduate in 4 years. Anyway, I'm just curious about things. I'm not planning to do my PhD yet, but we'll see. And of course, I wanna do it at the minimal time possible.. Just because I don't think I wanna stay at one place for 5 yrs especially the us!

~Dinna

[cquayhl]

Dinna,

No kidding! Tell me about it. My thoughts exactly when I finished undergrad, although hate is a bit strong. But yeah, I really wanted to not do my PhD here.

Still, aside from being >30 hours away from home and all that. I'm much happier at Stanford than I expected to be. The weather and the nearness of the outdoors help a lot, and I've fallen in with lots of cool people.

Not everywhere has weather like Evanston, you know. If you continue in materials, there's Stanford, Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Caltech... ;-)

Sounds like you know all the basic facts already, so you'll probably make an informed choice. :-) Good luck!

Charis.

[dinna_g]

Charis,

I don't hate the weather so much. Actually, I'm starting to have emotional feelings in the cold because I know I'll miss it.. LOL! It's so weird! I just hate this country. period. Probably because Mr. You-know-who won the election.

I think if I were to continue, I wanna do my PhD in chemistry.. Then again, I'm afraid if I change my path, I will have trouble. Cause there's this first year grad student in our group, who was a Chem major and he's so clueless about materials science. If I'm clueless in chemistry, then, I will feel sorry for myself.. LOL.. anyway, I think too much about all this stuff that I'm not planning to do just yet. But it's kinda fun sometimes just because I'm in the environment at the moment.

~Dinna

[dinna_g]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if you guys are knowledgable about how to go about begging for PhD scholarships in Malaysia?

I'm a BA (Honours) stu in Perth. I"m trying hard to get first class. If I getit, then can ask Aussie uni's for scholarship.

But being very patriotic *ahem* I want to get it in Msia. Who to go to for sponsorship?

If not... then too bad... will just ask some kwailow to sponsor. Talk about brain drain!

Sorry for digressing. I think there are PhD scholarships offered by universities but of course, they will bond you to the university and you'll end up being a professor. There's actually a whole bunch of grad students sponsored by various universities, especially in the UK. If you're interested in being an academician, maybe that's the way to go. Try contacting local universities and see what they have to offer.

[jiinjoo]

All my PhD friends in UK finished (or finishing) their PhD in 3 years, but also all had to do Masters degree before PhDm unlike US where people go straight into PhD program.

Do PhD in MUST la :)

[digimushu]

Yeap, for one, i know that MUST offers full tuition waiver for eligible students. Its somewhere on their website...feel free to email professors or even look it up on the website. Good luck!

[des_TINY]

Hi everyone I'm new here and glad to meet all you cool people who are doing great in your respective fields!

A 'lil intro about myself: Did my BEng (Elec) in UTM 2003 and doing an MBA from Victoria U Melbourne now at Sunway Uni College.

I'm trying to change field to business academia and get a PhD specialising in finance/marketing. I dunno if this is a good or workable idea. A few questions that hopefully anyone here can answer:

1) Is it a must to have a PhD in order to become an academic any where in the world? How about getting a professional doctorate like DBA, instead? What are other key requirements?

2) The US seems to offer better funding opportunities to foreign PhD students, compared to the UK and Australia. Any comment on this, specifically on business areas? Do include the pros and cons.

3) Even if I do my PhD overseas, I still hope to return to serve my country one day, whether in public or private sectors. Do you foresee a demand/good opportunities for business professors to do teaching/research/consulting in M'sia, in 5, 10 years?

I think that's about it. Would be delighted to get a hearty response!

Cheers

[Dr_Tay]

Dear Destiny,

Looking at your post your MBA is sufficient to get you a job in finance and marketing of engineering products. Also note that you can only teach a subject at undergraduate level if your Bachelor and Postgraduate degree are in the same subject, MOE stipulation. So your best bet is if you do a doctorate, MBA and have a BS in Engineering is to become a consultant.

Secondly, you must consider that academics in Malaysia are supposedly to be the most lowly paid after the UK and last in the list of Commonwealth countries according to a British education supplement.

Third, most corporations prefer that you have working experience in finance and marketing and would be discouraged that you are so highly qualified, in fact if you go to some employment agencies they will tell you to leave out the Dr. as it would put off alot of CEOs who don't have one.

There is no right or wrong answer to the path of success, and having a doctorate may not be the only solution to be a good marketer or financial specialist.

Finally, with regards getting a scholarship my view is that the world is undergoing a severe recession and even the US, UK and Australia are reluctant to give it to an overseas person unless you are exceptionally brilliant. In Malaysia, getting a scholarship is just as difficult as getting a bank loan without collateral. So if you do think of doing one, maybe the best bet is to work and save up money at the same time to do a part-time or distance learning doctorate. Brother, countries are strapped for cash now the last thing they want to do is to sponsor students for postgraduate programs unless you are really special or culturally extraodinaire.

Try to work out why you want to do a PhD and what you want to do with it. Don't use it as an excuse to take time off from the employment market. Be flexible and realistic about what the world offers for a living. Those who study straight through towards a PhD from school good for them but I can tell you most companies would discriminate them in their hiring policy as they lack the work experience.

[terry]

I am not trying to pour cold water.

I agree with Dr_Tay. Initially, the PhD will find that he has no advantage at all, the pay may be the same. Only later part when he shines out more, perhaps he is on the faster track to management level.

On another hand, there are some companies, even multi international companies who will find the PhD too qualified. There is even a notion that the PhD is too focussed in his area of specialities that there may be limitation in terms of brainstorming, innovative ideas, imaginative and yet practical practices. In real world, sometimes, there is no time for research, just think of the idea, do the risks assessment and take the chances, make the things work and iron out the issues along the implementation.

It depends on jobs.

[sandy]

Hey,

i am sandy. New around here. i am finding for any scholarships for Masters done in local university. i am currently doing my undergraduate studies. i hope to start my mastres in researct in the field of cancer research and drug discovey. any idea where to start??

[Amanda_low]

Dear Sandy,

this is amanda, New to this group also.. Feel good that i can actually share something and ask some opinions from this network.

Do you have any particular local university you interested in? There are a few scholarships or sponsorships that u can apply to, but firstly you have to approach to a supervisor first that will give you a project, from there only you proceed to apply for your scholarship.. as most of the scholarship here need a project on hand to apply. Try to look through the uni homepage...

take care

Amanda

[Culture]

Hi

I am new to this site - however you are all discussing on a topic of interest to me. I have long had intentions to join a university & be an academician. I also enjoy doing reseach work.

Recently I have been surfing the web to find for potential scholarships to continue my Phd. Any recommendation on sites to visit? I am looking at doing a business Phd ie Strategic Management etc.

Any recommendation / advise? :lol:

[digimushu]

Try to work out why you want to do a PhD and what you want to do with it. Don't use it as an excuse to take time off from the employment market. Be flexible and realistic about what the world offers for a living. Those who study straight through towards a PhD from school good for them but I can tell you most companies would discriminate them in their hiring policy as they lack the work experience.



Not really. it all depends on the exposure of the work that you have done as a Ph. D student and how much u publish(journals, conferences). Companies in hi-tech industry usually hire those who are the best in their field and publishing will get your name out there as people are always looking for new technologies and new ways of doing things. Also, with a Ph. D, you can consult on various projects, even those that are not in M'sia, if you are well known in your area. In the technological area, there are many opportunities. Chances are much more limited in the business sector.


On another hand, there are some companies, even multi international companies who will find the PhD too qualified. There is even a notion that the PhD is too focussed in his area of specialities that there may be limitation in terms of brainstorming, innovative ideas, imaginative and yet practical practices.


I dont think so. If a company is serious about surviving in the market, it has to hire R&D staff. Those with bachelors degree will find out that doing graduate school will reveal how little they know about their field. Master's degree holders are great, but they lack the research experience and depth of knowledge needed to do some higher level theoretical research. Real research is not like what M'sia does. M'sia is only interested in short term gains from applied research, where as the ramifications of a theoretical research is more far-reaching when you think about the contribution to the various fields.

[ilieeili]

Anybody planning (or got accepted)to do PhD in Cambridge and Oxford? Need help...

I need to know about personal statement and CV..what to write and etc.

Thanks!