Sunway University College and Lancaster University get a second PMI 2 grant
Lancaster University (Lancaster) and Sunway University College (Sunway) have been awarded a second PMI 2 grant by the British Council. This £40,000 (approx RM255,000) grant, between Lancaster’s Department of Computing and Sunway’s own School of Computer Technology (SCT), is to support the development of a joint research project in the area of mobile phone technology and large public screens.
A part of the PMI 2 (the second ‘Prime Minister’s Initiative’) by British Council is the awarding of competitive grants to encourage collaboration to build world class research between UK institutions and their overseas partner institutions.
“As part of our commitment to building a ‘first class university college ’it is imperative that we develop our own internal research capabilities. By partnering with Lancaster University, we can ‘kick-start’ that process and leverage their existing research skills and experience” said Professor Jarlath Ronayne, Vice-Chancellor of Sunway University College.
The grant application, developed by SCT and led by Professor Rodger Lea – who is visiting Sunway from Lancaster for one year – is designed to explore the growing area of mobile computing and in particular how mobile phones can be used to interact with large screen displays. This area, although new to SCT, is an established area of research at Lancaster’s department of computing where it forms part of their eCampus initiative, itself part of the exciting new research area referred to as “Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp)”.
“I am delighted with the award and would like to congratulate Professor Lea, for his wisdom in identifying an opportunity for collaboration and for drafting the application; and Dr Wong Hun Heng, Head of SCT, for speedily completing the Sunway side of the documentation” added Professor Ronayne.
In the letter informing Sunway and Lancaster of its success in obtaining the grant, Suzanne Gardiner, PMI Project Delivery Officer at the British Council, wrote, “You will be interested to know that we received an overwhelming number of applications from the sector and the quality of the bids was extremely high. Each application was assessed by an Evaluation Panel made up of senior members of staff from universities and appropriate sector bodies”.
”This is the very first funded joint research project by Sunway and is an example of a collaboration with a foreign university that goes way beyond the validation of degree courses and financial benefit for the foreign partner” said Professor Rodger Lea.
“The grant will be the seed funding for the long term goals of building a research profile for Sunway. We have started initial progress work on this project and it is going well. A few staff have been identified for this research project and a research lab to be funded by Sunway will be in place as the first step towards achieving its research capabilities, which is the basis for a first class university“, remarked Professor Lea.
Uniquely at Sunway, it is a true partnership where the development of younger institution is a vital part of the affiliation. Sunway University College currently offers undergraduate studies in Accounting and Finance, Business Management, Business Studies, Information Systems, Information Technology, Multimedia Systems, Hospitality Management, Tourism Management and Psychology in affiliation with Lancaster University, UK.
Leave a Response