Academic research needs to be based on the needs of society

SAMARAHAN CITY, Oct 27: Academics and researchers should prioritize the real needs of society in research frameworks to ensure that the results can be applied practically as well as beneficial to industry.

Fellow of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences, Hazami Habib said community, ministry and industry involvement from an early stage is important to allow researchers to understand the problems that need to be solved before formulating research proposals.

"Now there is no such approach, usually research is done first and when it's done, it's just looking for who can apply it.

"Now the approach is that researchers need to meet with stakeholders to understand their problems which need to be solved", he told reporters at the Campus Edition Independent Awards Dialogue Series at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on Tuesday.

According to Hazami, data from the Malaysian Academy of Sciences shows that about 612,000 scientific publications have been produced since 1996, yet only about five percent of local technology is utilized by industry.

He said the success rate of innovation was estimated at around 10 percent, while only 2 percent reached global levels.

"The pathway shows the need to strengthen the relationship between research institutions and industry so that the results of studies are not stopped on scientific publication, but instead can be translated into practical solutions that meet society's needs", he said.

In this regard, Hazami said efforts to strengthen technology transfer should be given attention, including by producing more skilled technology transfer officers (TTOs).

"These officials have a role to play in connecting researchers with the industry to help ensure that potential research results can be developed, commercialized and exploited more widely", he explained. -TVS