Updated on 5th May 2015
GUIDELINES FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF
HIGH IMPACT RESEARCH BRIGHT SPARKS PROGRAMME (HIR BSP)
Preamble
In 2011, the Ministry of Education provided a special allocation of RM590 million to conduct high
impact research (HIR) in the university which will result in ISI (WoS) publications in Tier 1 journals.
The target is to achieve 3,400 Tier 1 publications by the end of 2015, and hopefully, this will help to
push the institution towards the top 100 QS World University Rankings.
UM created the Bright Sparks Programme (BSP) to attract research students with CGPA of 3.75 by
giving them a monthly allowance of RM3,500 per month. These students are expected to publish a
certain number of publications according to their field of research. All publications must be in the ISI
(WoS) ranked journals. However, the criteria set by the university for students to enter the
programme are stringent, and despite the higher scholarship, this has not attracted many to join and
undertake HIR projects.
HIR has now created the HIR Bright Sparks Programme which hopefully will allow the Principal
Investigators to recruit good students to assist in their research and to meet their KPIs.
Requirements under HIR Bright Sparks Programme (HIR BSP)
(1) Applicants must have completed the Bachelor’s Degree with CGPA of at least 3.00 or equivalent
(2) They must have published at least two papers in ISI journals of any tiers
(3) They must not exceed 35 years of age at the time of application
(4) Applicants must be supervised by a Principal Investigator (PI) whose project is funded under the
MoE HIR grant
Incentive
Successful applicants will be entitled to RM200 incentive per Tier 1 paper following the appointment.
The incentive should come out from the PI’s MoE HIR Grant.
Application
PIs who want to have their students appointed under the HIR BSP should fill in the UM HIR BSP
Application Form which is available on the HIR website.