Developing Solutions Masters Scholarships
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus will be offering a number of full- tution fee scholarships to eligible candidates from Developing Countries under Developing Solutions International Scholarship Programme. These tuition fee scholarships are available for new students registering on the MSc Crop Biotechnology degree programme in September 2009.
In order to apply for of these scholarships you must be holding a conditional or unconditional offer of a place on a full time MSc in Crop Biotechnology degree programme at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus from September 2009.
For more details please click here.
AAR-UNMC Biotechnology Research Centre
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus has established a strong collaboration with Applied Agricultural Resources Sdn. Bhd (AAR), an internationally recognised premier centre in plantation crop research. This collaboration has resulted in a new biotechnology research centre in Semenyih, Selangor. Initial emphasis on research and development is oil palm, with a focus in the area of oil palm genetic improvement through modern molecular techniques. Research areas being explored include the use of DNA to detect illegitimate crosses, tissue culture mix-ups and other identity-related issues. DNA fingerprinting technology will be utilised to authenticate the in-house breeds and clones for intellectual property rights.
The Centre also seeks to hasten traditional breeding programmes through genetic relationship studies to determine desirable oil palm breeding partners. In order to speed up the breeding programmes, marker-assisted selection technology will be developed for early selection of wanted/unwanted traits at DNA level, rather than selection after the oil palm starts fruiting and yielding. Traits of interest include oil quality, tree height and fruit colour. In the future, genetic engineering technology can be used to overcome the barrier of introducing new trait(s) into oil palm. This technology together with marker assisted selection and tissue culture can speed up the production of new oil palm varieties, with desirable traits, such as high value oil, disease resistance and amenability to mechanised harvesting.
Industry-academic collaboration is important because it provides facilities for high level biotechnology research for students and also links students directly to potential employers.