Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) or National University of Malaysia is situated in Bangi, Selangor and is one of Malaysia’s public universities. It also has another branch in Kuala Lumpur and a teaching facility in Cheras. UKM is considered as part of the four research universities in Malaysia. In 2006, it ranked as 185 of the World’s Top 200 Universities.
National University of Malaysia – History
The school was established in May 18, 1970. At first, UKM held its operation at Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur. This served as a temporary location for the first batch of 192 students as well as the first 3 faculties. It was in October 1977, that the university moved its quarters to Bangi.
National University of Malaysia – Courses offered
UKM’s educational system was based from that of Cambridge’s and Oxford’s. It has 13 faculties: Science and Technology, Medicine, Law, Information Science and Technology, Engineering and Built Environment, Economics and Business, Graduate School of Business, Education, Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Social Sciences and Humanities and Islamic Studies.
The university also has 10 centers and 14 institutions. Among the centers that are available are Research and Innovation Management, Publication and Printing and General Studies. Some of the institutions of UMK are Fuel Cell Institute, Medical Molecular Biology Institute, Institute of Space Science and Institute for Environment & Development.
National University of Malaysia – Facilities and alumni
UKM has residential colleges for its students. It has a total of 13. One of these, Idris al-Marbawi, is located outside of the Bangi campus vicinity, while Tun Syed Nasir is located inside the Kuala Lumpur campus and Tun Dr. Ismail is inside the Cheras campus.
The university is home to famous alumni. One of these is the prominent first astronaut of Malaysia, Sheikh Muzaphar Shukor.