KUCHING: Yayasan Sarawak will offer scholarships to Sarawakians pursuing master’s and doctorate (PhD) degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Foundation director Azmi Bujang said this was decided during a board meeting chaired by deputy chairman Datu Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki on Friday in response to Chief Minister and Yayasan Sarawak chairman Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg’s announcements on the setting up of the state’s Research Council.
Azmi said the scholarship programme would include biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, bioprocess engineering, bio-robotics, control engineering, cloud computing, cyber security, and artificial intelligence.
“We want to facilitate this exercise because we have been appointed as the secretariat for this initiative. Of course, the funds would come from Yayasan Sarawak.
“The chief minister has announced this many times. So, now we are ready. We know the required courses. This is for the bright minds out there, and hopefully their research will contribute to the betterment of Sarawak in the long run,” he said yesterday following a ceremony to hand out aid from the foundation to needy students.
He called on postgraduate students in the early stages of enrolment to approach Yayasan Sarawak.
“This is for Sarawakian master’s and PhD candidates in the field of research, in any university, in certain areas that is required for development of the state to a higher level.
“We want to get this thing moving. We will see how many candidates are qualified, what are the research titles. We need to talk to them first. We have a committee to look at all this,” he said.
Interested applicants can go to www.yayasansarawak.org.my.
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, who officiated at the event, said no child should be deprived of an education.
He pointed out that the government provided needy students with school uniforms and textbooks for free.
Dr Sim also called for greater emphasis on STEM subjects as the state heads towards a digital economy.