King presents scholarships to 14 students

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

Half of the recipients will pursue Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) studies, while another half will further their master’s degrees through research.

The Public Service Department, in a statement on Wednesday (July 17), said two of the scholars would further their studies at a renowned university abroad, while the rest would continue their studies at local research universities.

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

The recipients who will pursue their master’s degrees 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).

Meanwhile, Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, in a statement, said that 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 the 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 this year artificial intelligence is also added to the list.

One of the recipients, Toh, who aspires to become a lecturer and contribute to future generations, expressed his appreciation to the Malaysian government and the King for the scholarship, adding that he hoped to find drugs to treat cancer that are affordable and accessible to all. – Bernama