KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, presented the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Scholarship (BYDPA) 2024 to 14 students from higher learning institutions at Istana Negara.

Half the recipients will be pursuing Doctors of Philosophy (PhD), with the other half furthering their Master’s degree studies through research.

The Public Service Department (PSD) said in a statement yesterday that two of the scholars will further their studies at a renowned university abroad, while the rest will continue at local research universities.

The PhD students are Nadrahtul Aqilah Mohd Yahya (Imperial College London – Physics); Alyssa April Dellow (UKM) – Data Science); Muhammad Aiman Mohd Sukiman (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) – Environment); Toh Shek Man (UPM) – Cancer Pharmacology); Avinash Kumaresan (UKM – Nanotechnology); Muhammad Faris Hamzi Tuan Ibrahim (UTM - Law); and Jankin Abd Rahman (UPM – Economy).

Those pursuing their Master’s are Ahmad Qayyum Fikri Ahmad Jazimin (UPM – Computer Vision AI); Nur Addina Mohamad Rosli (UPM – Nutrition); Jeyrubini Ramesh (USM – Molecular Omics Technology); Nasihah Mohd Zahid (USM – Nanotechnology); Adam Fansuri Achdiat Mahpha Fansuri (Imperial College London – Bioinformatics and Biocomputing); Muhammad Izzuddin Abdullah (UM – Biochemistry); and Nur Fatin Fitriah Nordin (UPM – Machine Learning).

PSD director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said the prestigious scholarship programme was introduced in 2006 to sponsor high-achieving students in academic and non-academic fields.

“Until this year, 19 rounds of offers were implemented with 212 Malaysians receiving BYDPA scholarships, comprising 107 PhD students and 105 Master’s students in the fields of science and technology, economy, law and Islamic finance,” he said, adding that the field of Artificial Intelligence was also added to the list of sponsored studies for this year’s applications.

Toh expressed his appreciation to the King and Malaysian Government for his scholarship, adding that he hoped to find drugs to treat cancer that was affordable and accessible to all.

Meanwhile, Sultan Ibrahim attended the 266th Meeting of the Conference of Rulers at Istana Negara yesterday.

The meeting, presided over by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, began its two-day session.

Also present were Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah and Sultan of Kedah Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.

The meeting was also attended by Penang Governor Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak, Melaka Governor Tun Mohd Ali Rustam, Sabah Governor Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and Sarawak Governor Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/18/king-presents-scholarships-to-14-postgraduates