By Suraya Usamah
GOMBAK, 29 October 2014: A talk to bring students closer to know the hows and whys of pursuing studies at Masters and PhD levels was held recently as part of the IRKHS Festival 2014.
It featured Dr. Luqman Zakariyah, the coordinator at the postgraduates office and a delegation from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Â (UTP) which came to offer IIUM students sponsorships for such programmes.
The festival was organised by the Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences Students Society.
The delegation from UTP included a few of the finest faculty members. Their objective was to make it clear for the students, especially from IRKHS, that UTP not only provided engineering courses as it was widely known, but it provided a number of social sciences and humanities programmes such as historical and cultural studies and the Al-Quran and Sunnah studies.
Dr. Zulqarnain bin Abu Bakar, one of UTPs representatives and an expert in language and linguistic said, œWe came to look for students to study in UTP and get paid for that.
The university provided various types of sponsorships that cover not only tuition fees but also provided monthly allowances with not less than RM1,600 for Master and RM2,200 for PhD.
According to Nurzaihan Zulkifly of UTPs admission unit, there are many types of sponsorship from which students can choose what suited them most.
The coordinator at the postgraduates office of IRKHS, also a well known lecturer, briefed the students on why they should continue their higher studies and what they might expect to face during that time.
He said, œIt is very challenging; physically, mentally, financially and spiritually and students were told that “reading is a must, if one does not love books then it would be a struggle”.
œThe most important thing is your good intention in what you are doing and why you are doing it, he added.***