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To these roles and responsibilities of universities it must be noted that others also exist, such as;
1- responsibilities to the international research community,
2- to the region as defined in historical and apolitical terms,
3- to the culture and traditions of the current residents of the region,
4- to universities as continuing and increasingly independent instruments of society,
5- to graduate students themselves, and so on.
In this region, this leads directly to an informed approach based on bottom-up applied
research perhaps informed by parallel basic research that retains a central focus on self-defined
communities. This will inevitably lead to cross-border cooperation, integrative cross-disciplinary
studies and specific research projects for graduate candidates based on local industries and
issues. Done well, the products of such research would make a well-managed university
internationally renowned – to do this, some basic principles should be followed.
Some Principles for Regional Research
To elicit some principles for university-research in a region such as the South (which in
Malaysia may be seen as often synonymous with ‘the North-west’ and for others as, for example,
‘the Srivijaya Region’) it may be assumed that research will be of limited value unless it is practical
and reliable. Such applied research can then contribute to an international reputation.
A regional university might not become a Harvard or Cambridge, but it can collaborate with
such elite universities if it is able to conduct international standard applied research. In addition
to this quality principle, some other general principles can be readily listed with some examples
of projects that suit graduate research, as follows.
11. social sciences informing technological research to provide context – for example,
comparing the fermented fish product ดุ
กร
า (dookrah) across culturally related groups
that have integrated with other cultures elsewhere in the region; determining if it is a
nutritionally essential component of some diets; identifying the processes occurring in its
preservation; conducting similar research on the Phatalung rice product, ข
าวสั
งข
หยด
(khaosungyot).
22. defining regional benefits in research rather than focussing on one country or on national
programs that have limited relevance in a border region – for example, smallholder rubber
production and home-processing systems and marketing compared across national
and cultural borders.
Food for Thought:
University research is mainly conducted through integrated graduate research
programs that focus on regional matters within a well-informed social context.
