Seminar on Research Methodology for Postgrad
Date: 6 Aug 2009
Time: 8.30 am - 5 pm
Venue: Danau Golf Club, UKM
Registration: RM40
email: ismail@ukm.my/sbp@ukm.my/shadira@ukm.my
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
FST Open day: Fern Photography Contest
In conjunction with FST open day, a photography contest was organized by Taman Paku Pakis (Fern Park). Cash is up for grab. Since I have brought my digital camera that day, I can't miss this opportunity! Contestants are required to take one photo from Taman Paku Pakis and a scenery photo from FST.
Some of my favourite photos:
A little bit about Taman Paku Pakis in UKM. The 20-acres park has existed since 1988. However, the park was given a total makeover by FernaRia UKM bersama Exxonmobil last year. The company sponsored RM 60,000 to upgrade and conserve this place. Many species of ferns including rare species are planted. Now, the park is used as recreational place, research and educational purposes. A must visit site if you're in UKM. You can find a very detailed article in BM on this blog.
The beautiful scenery in Taman Paku Pakis:
I'm very satisfied with my photos eventhough I didn't win. When I saw the winning photos, my jaw dropped open. No comment. >.<
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
FST Open Day: Kembara Hutan Bangi
"Bangi forest reserve (Hutan Simpan Bangi, adjacent to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Bangi campus, is a lawland secondary dipterocarp forest with a size of 100 hectares, which provides lush greenary freshness to UKM Bangi campus. Small forest reserve, ponds, swamps and hill slopes can be found in the forest reverse. The forest reserve is accessed via a 2 KM jungle trail for visitors to enjoy the beauty of flora and fauna of the forest reserve. Bukit Rupa is the highest peak of the forest reserve with an altitude of 105 m from sea level. The Fernarium located within the forest reserve is a site for collection of many fern species collected by researchers and scientist at UKM. Also situtated in the forest reverse is Hutan Pendidikan Alam UKM, which is a centre for cocurriculum activities of various UKM organizations. The co-curriculum centre is equipped with halls, bathroom, camp site and other amenities for training. Bangi Forest reverse houses more than 600 plant species and more than 800 faunal species including small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects etc. The richness of flora and fauna, and the various ecosystems have made Bangi Forest reserve an excellent site for teaching, research and recreation in UKM. "
The above description of Hutan Simpan Bangi came from the brochure given at the exhibition booth. In conjunction with FST Open Day, two jungle trekking sessions (10am and 2pm) are offered to visitors for FREE each day. A UKM bus will drop visitors at the Bangi Lama entrance. Then, they will take 1-1.5 hour journey across Hutan Bangi to reach another entrance point near UKM Law Faculty. This short jungle trekking trail is suitable to people to all walk of age. However, you must seek permission before entering this forest reserve.
Route to Bukit Rupa
My labmates and I signed up for the morning session. We were joined by two big groups of secondary school students and teachers. After a brief explanation by the guide, we head into the jungle. The guide stopped us at a number of trees to educate us about its uses. Several valuable species such as Jelutong, Gaharu and Tongkat Ali can be found here. The guide demonstrated burning a piece of Gaharu bark tissue to give off a nice fragance. He also cut down some young Palas leaves to show us that how to harvest Palas leaves used in wrapping ketupat.
Palas or Licuala spinosa
As we trek down the path, I realized the surrounding plants are mainly palm species such as Palas, Bertam, Salak and Rattan. Low species diversity, high density and wide distribution suggested that the forest has been badly damaged in the past. During Japanese occupation (1942-1945), 90% of the forest was cleared. Although reforestration was done, the forest never recover its valuable timbers. Some common indications of reforested areas are presence of lowland ferns and Senduduk (Melastoma malabathricum).
All the information about Hutan Bangi can be found here.
Read more...
The above description of Hutan Simpan Bangi came from the brochure given at the exhibition booth. In conjunction with FST Open Day, two jungle trekking sessions (10am and 2pm) are offered to visitors for FREE each day. A UKM bus will drop visitors at the Bangi Lama entrance. Then, they will take 1-1.5 hour journey across Hutan Bangi to reach another entrance point near UKM Law Faculty. This short jungle trekking trail is suitable to people to all walk of age. However, you must seek permission before entering this forest reserve.
My labmates and I signed up for the morning session. We were joined by two big groups of secondary school students and teachers. After a brief explanation by the guide, we head into the jungle. The guide stopped us at a number of trees to educate us about its uses. Several valuable species such as Jelutong, Gaharu and Tongkat Ali can be found here. The guide demonstrated burning a piece of Gaharu bark tissue to give off a nice fragance. He also cut down some young Palas leaves to show us that how to harvest Palas leaves used in wrapping ketupat.
As we trek down the path, I realized the surrounding plants are mainly palm species such as Palas, Bertam, Salak and Rattan. Low species diversity, high density and wide distribution suggested that the forest has been badly damaged in the past. During Japanese occupation (1942-1945), 90% of the forest was cleared. Although reforestration was done, the forest never recover its valuable timbers. Some common indications of reforested areas are presence of lowland ferns and Senduduk (Melastoma malabathricum).
All the information about Hutan Bangi can be found here.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Inbiosis Seminar on Successful Research Program
Title: Steps to successful research program
Speaker: Dr. Barbara M. Reed (USDA/ARS, Oregon)
Date: 17 July 09 (Friday)
Time: 9am -12 pm
Venue: Bilik Seminar, Inbiosis.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Balancing work and life by managing yourself
You spend the entire day working in the lab wondering if the hard work will paid off. You came home to a messy room with dirty laundary. Everyday work seems like a routine. Worst, you can’t recall what happened last week and you forgot your friend's birthday. You know something is missing in your life but you think to yourself: it’ll be all over when this project is finished. But, the project never end! As more questions came out, more problem to solve and more work to do. Before you know it, you’re stuck in a loop.
We are facing great challenges living in an fast-paced and adrenaline-crazed society. Our stress level in on red alert. We must always give quick answer, save time and get the job done faster. At times, we felt overwhelmed, frustrated and exhausted. We worried about a lot of things. We lost balance between work and life. If you think there's no way you can do this better, you're wrong. How do you think successful people manage their lives? You think they never sleep?! It all boils down to time management, evaluating importance and setting priority.
Here's a rule to setting your priority according to the importance and urgency of the matter. It's a time management grip taken from Stephen Covey's book on "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".
List the task that you need to complete in the quadrants and execute around priorities. The suggestion is to do the tasks in Q1 first followed by Q2, Q3 and Q4. Q1 tasks should be dealt immediately. Q2 tasks are important but can be re-scheduled. Highly effective people always make time for Q2 activities. Note that postponing Q2 tasks will turn them into Q1 tasks. Q3 activities are usually distractions (e.g. an interrupt phone call). Q4 is neither urgent nor important. So, it's a waste of time. Ask yourself how many things you did today fall into this category.
Of course, the above rules don't have to be followed strictly. One thing I learn from my supervisor is that she never postpone any simple task like giving someone a call or sending emails. She would instantly call the person to get answers to the questions that came up during our discussion. So my advice is to do the task right away if it only requires a few minutes of your time. Procrastination is the thief of time!
Right, so now you have listed your priorities and is about to execute them. You sat down on your desk and started working on it. 3 hours later, you realized you make no progress at all. You were busy surfing the net for something else. Sounds familiar? Here's what you can do. When you realized other ideas are distracting you from your focus, tell yourself it’s very important to stick to your work and to complete it now. Turn off your phone or music to help you focus better.
It's also very important to identify and eliminate things that are draining your energy. It could be work or people. If it's work, don't take any project that you are unlikely to complete in time. Just say NO and give reasonable explanation. Also, delegate your work as much as possible. Beware of people who cause negative impacts and emotion torture on your life. It could be your colleague always asking for your help or a friend always complaining about her problems. Here's some tips on how to deal with them.
Lastly, live and eat healthy! When we neglect our health, we get sick easily and more work could piled up resulting more stress. So, eat more vegetables, reduce sugar, exercise regularly, drink more water and less caffeine. And people, walking up and down the stairs and moving about in the lab is not an exercise! Pick an exercise you enjoy, invite a friend and do it at least once a week. Besides having a good sweat, take this relaxing moment to spend time with a friend, periodically review your life and review your time-effectiveness.
This post was inspired by the book "Life makeovers: 52 practical and inspiring ways to improve your life one week at a time" by Cheryl Richardson. The book can be borrowed from PTSL library (after I return it). If you have other ways on how to improve our lifes, please leave a comment and share with us. :-)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Introduction to National Science Fellowship (NSF)
Due to globalization and labour cost competition, the government shifted the focus from knowledge-based economy in the mid 1990s to innovation-led economy. Under Rancangan Malaysia ke-9, the government have invested a lot on Pembangunan modal insan (Human capital development).
Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) plays an important role in HCD for science and technology. MOSTI's vision is knowledge creation, wealth creation and societal well being. One of the missions is to create pool of experts in various STI fields.
There are various types of HCD programs offered by MOSTI:
National Science Fellowship (NSF) is a scholarship awarded to excellent students to pursue full-time postgraduate studies in STI areas at local universities or prestigious universites abroad. The various STI areas include biotechnology, IT, marine and aerospace, industry, agriculture, pharmaceutical and etc. This program has been offered since 1998. There are 714 recipients under Biotechnology category up until 2008. Since Sept 2008, the number of scholarships have doubled to 400 annually. In Mac 2009, the registration website is open all around the year and there are 4 rounds of selection.
Scholarship benefits include:
For more information, visit http://ehcd.mosti.gov.my/ehrd/nsf.php.
Read more...
Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) plays an important role in HCD for science and technology. MOSTI's vision is knowledge creation, wealth creation and societal well being. One of the missions is to create pool of experts in various STI fields.
There are various types of HCD programs offered by MOSTI:
- LDP - Scholarship for government servants such as research officers (RO) and lecturers to obtain MSc or PhD. Age must be below 40. The receipient will be given paid leave and extra monthly allowance.
- EXPT - To invite experts abroad to give training.
- PGD - Scholarship for post-graduate students working under MOSTI grant. Students must apply before 3rd semester of study. Anyone who fail to obtain NSF can apply for this scheme. The stipend for MSc is Rm1,300 and RM1,500 for PhD students.
- ATTH - Attachment programs to RO or lecturers.
- NSF - see below.
National Science Fellowship (NSF) is a scholarship awarded to excellent students to pursue full-time postgraduate studies in STI areas at local universities or prestigious universites abroad. The various STI areas include biotechnology, IT, marine and aerospace, industry, agriculture, pharmaceutical and etc. This program has been offered since 1998. There are 714 recipients under Biotechnology category up until 2008. Since Sept 2008, the number of scholarships have doubled to 400 annually. In Mac 2009, the registration website is open all around the year and there are 4 rounds of selection.
Scholarship benefits include:
- Tuition fees
- Examination and Viva fees
- Monthly stipend of RM1,560 for MSc student & RM2,300 for PhD students. overseas stipend similar to JPA rate
- Scholars are allowed to do attachment up to 6 months or attend one international conference. However, MSc students are only allowed to do local attachment while PhD students can attach to overseas institutes preferably in semester 3 or 4.
- Malaysian citizen
- Academic requirement - CGPA >3.0 for degree holder. A Msc or first class honours degree for PhD candidates.
- Age - not more than 30 for MSc and 35 for PhD students
- Not government servants or tutors from IPTA.
- Please note that students must apply before or during semester 1.
For more information, visit http://ehcd.mosti.gov.my/ehrd/nsf.php.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Biopartnering 2009: Business Networking Session
Date: 14 July 09 (Tues)
Venue: Sheraton Imperial Hotel, KL
Time: 8 am - 6 pm
Organizer: BiotechCorp
A business networking event for the biotechnology industry in Malaysia. 40 BioNexus Partners (BNP) laboratories and units will be showcasing the services, equipment and facilities available in their laboratories and units via the business networking and presentation sessions. For further information please contact Ms Aida or Ms Christabel at 03-2116 5508/5586 or email triplehelix@biotechcorp.com.my.
Read more...
Friday, July 3, 2009
International Congress of Malaysian Society for Microbiology
Theme: Current issues for sustainable research and innovations in microbial biotechnology
Date: 1-4 December 09
Venue: ParkRoyal Hotel, Penang
Open for abstract submission
Click here for more details.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Seminar on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Date: 8 July 09 (Wed)
Time: 11am
Venue: G143
Topics: protein sequence and structure
Speaker: Prof. Peter Artymiuk, University of Sheffield, UK
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