UTAR Research Fund (UTARRF) is an internal research grant scheme designed to provide seed funding to support UTAR researchers and students in implementing research projects and research related activities.
UTARRF was established in 2005 with an initial amount of RM1 million allocated per annum. The allocation is intended to serve as seed fund to kick-start implementation of projects with good potential. This amount was subsequently increased to RM3 million in year 2010.
The University management further increased the annual allocation for UTAR R&D Fund to RM5 million for each year of 2011 till 2014, RM6.25 million for 2015 and subsequently to RM6.39 million and RM6.42 million for 2020 and 2021 respectively. It enables additional and larger scale projects to be initiated as well as boost research & development activities geared towards realising the goal for UTAR to invigorate intellectual pursuits through research and innovation that have impact on society.
As of 31 December 2021, the accumulated UTARRF amount awarded is RM75.7 million (Figure 2-1).
Figure 2-1: Allocation of UTAR Research Fund (UTARRF) as of 31 Dec 2021
The University, guided by stringent and careful grant approval procedures, had initially approved a funding amount of RM516,500 in 2006. The amount continued to register growth in the years following with a total of RM6.42 million awarded in 2021.
From the RM6.42 million that was approved in 2021, RM 3,068,136.80 was awarded to 112 research projects in UTARRF Cycle 1 and 2/2021. The breakdown of the awarded UTARRF projects by Faculties/Institute is shown in Figure 2-2.
Figure 2-2: Breakdown of the awarded UTARRF projects by Faculties/Institute as of 31 Dec 2021
A special allocation was also set aside for academics’ and students’ research related activities. A total of RM 3,509,542.03 funding was approved for the purpose. These activities include the following:
| 1 | 2nd Symposium on Railway Infrastructure and Engineering |
| 2 | Postgraduate Colloquium on Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) 2021 |
| 3 | 1st Innovative in Teaching and Learning Competition 2020 (In-TLC 2020) |
| 4 | Agriculture Technology Seminar Series XIX: Precision Agriculture |
| 5 | International Conference of Sinophone Malaysian Literary Studies |
| 6 | 7th Symposium on Science Education (SoSE 2020) |
| 7 | Conference on Taiwan-Malaysia Study on Southeast Asian Chinese Culture 2021 |
| 8 | 4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology 2021 (ISGST2021) |
| 9 | International Conference on Sustainable Energy & Green Technology 2020 - 2021 (SEGT 2020-2021) |
| 10 | UTAR Intervarsity Science Symposium 2021 (UISS 2021) |
| 11 | 9th International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance and Economics (BAFE) 2021 |
| 12 | MOHE Grant Evaluation Workshop |
| 13 | Ways to Resolve Marital Conflict |
| 14 | UTAR-Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (TECO) 2021 |
| 15 | LRGS Seminar 2/2021 |
| 16 | EduFun AgriMicrob Science Holiday Workshop |
| 17 | Tips for Winning FRGS-MOHE Grant 2021 |
| 18 | 3rd Biennial International Medical and Health Sciences Conference |
| 19 | Eggcited Virtual Workshop: World Egg Day 2021 (Bringing Fun Learning with Charitable Means to Your Home) |
| 20 | International Webinar on Advanced Scanning & Transmission Electron Microscopy 2021 (i-WASTEM 2021) |
| 21 | 2021 Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Greater Bay Area· Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) International Colleges Bamboo Structure Design and Construction Competition – Malaysian Stage Organizer |
| 22 | Agriculture Technology Seminar Series 20 |
| 23 | Road to Financial Freedom: Financial Instruments and Wealth Management |
| 24 | Herbs Webinar 2021: Herbs for Respiratory Health |
| 25 | UTAR International Women's Day 2020: Empowering Women Gearing Towards Equality |
| 26 | 3 mins Video Research Poster Competition |
| 27 | National Innovation and Invention Competition through Exhibition 2021 (iCompEx’21) |
| 28 | ROBOCON Malaysia 2021 |
| 29 | 12th National Food Science & Technology (MIFT) Competition 2021 |
| 30 | IEM-UTM SS 1st InvencMax Competition 2021 |
| 31 | 2nd International Students Competition on Tall Building Design: Creating a Model Design for a Global IT Hub Adapting to the Post-COVID Green Building Initiatives |
| 32 | Robocup@home Education Online Challenge 2021 |
| 33 | 6th Annual International Invention Innovation Competition, iCAN 2021 |
| 34 | Regional Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Conference (RCEUC) 2021 |
| 35 | Engineering Innovation Challenge 2021 |
| 36 | Electrical Power System Simulation Competition (EPSSCOM 2021) |
| 37 | Chem-E Car Presentation Competition |
| 38 | RoboCup Asia-Pacific 2021 Aichi Japan |
| 39 | 2nd IEEE Five Minutes Final Year Project Competition 2021 (5MFYP 2021) |
| 40 | Design Skill Competition 2021 |