Asia-Europe Institute (AEI)

This PhD programme is purely based on individual supervised research. At the end of the candidate's study, a thesis must be submitted and upon successful defense of the paper, the candidate will be granted PhD status.

The candidate is greatly encouraged to carry out research in the field of Social Sciences, Humanities, Economics & Businesses that is multidisciplinary and comparative in nature encompassing any country or region within Asia and Europe.

Areas of research include, among others:

Globalisation, Regional Integration and Development;
Sustainability, Governance and Social Change;
Multiculturalism and Community Development;
Social Development and Ethnicity;
Business Network, Knowledge Management and Competitiveness;
Gender and Development; and
ASEAN Studies and ASEAN-EU Relations.

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Programme Educational Objectives (PEO)

The goal of the AEI PhD Programme is to produce scholars who can lead the development and dissemination of knowledge as a leader in research and teaching as well as services for the society. Accordingly the Programme Educational Objectives (PEO) are as follows:

PEO1 : Advancing innovation in research and work practices.
PEO2 : Leading research as researcher and / or practitioners with national and / or international expertise.
PEO3 : Disseminate research results and/or provide expert advice in an ethical and professional conduct.

Duration of Study

Full-time
Minimum: 4 semesters
Maximum: 12 semesters

Entry Requirement

Applicant should hold a recognised:

Master's Degree (Research Mode); or
Master’s Degree (Coursework/Mixed Mode) with a minimum of CGPA 3.70 or its equivalent; or
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree (Coursework/Mixed Mode) with a minimum of CGPA 3.00 or its equivalent; or
Master’s Degree (Coursework/Mixed Mode) with CGPA between 2.00 – 3.69 or its equivalent, and Bachelor’s Degree with a minimum of CGPA 3.00 or its equivalent; or
Master’s Degree (Coursework/Mixed Mode) with CGPA between 2.00 – 3.69 or its equivalent, and Bachelor’s Degree with CGPA between 2.50 – 2.99 or its equivalent, including one (1) of these criteria:
- have at least three (3) years of work experience in a related field; or
- produced publications in related fields; or
- scholarship holder; or
- Universiti Malaya graduate
- an employee of a government agency; or
- pass an interview conducted by the Faculty; or
- pass a special assessment by the Faculty
or
Master’s Degree (Coursework/Mixed Mode) with CGPA between 2.00 – 3.69 or its equivalent, and Bachelor’s Degree with CGPA between 2.00 – 2.49 may be considered if the applicant has at least five (5) years of relevant work experience and meets at least one (1) criterion if a Universiti Malaya graduate, or two (2) criteria if a non-Universiti Malaya graduate, as listed below:

produce at least one (1) publication in a peer-reviewed journal in a related field;
pass an interview conducted by the Faculty; or
pass a special assessment by the Faculty

Fast Track (Accelerated / Direct Admission)

The direct admission / Fast Track (accelerated admission) provides the opportunity for Bachelor’s Degree graduates with the academic qualifications and who have high potential to pursue their studies in the Doctoral programme by research without having a Master’s qualification in the field concerned.

Applicants who attained the following qualification may be admitted to the Doctoral programme by research:

Bachelor’s Degree with a minimum CGPA of not less than 3.70 (out of 4.00) or equivalent; and
Passed the interview and presentation of the proposed research.

English Language Requirement

An applicant who is not a Malaysian citizen and holds a degree from a university or higher education institution where the language of instruction for that degree is not English but wishes to pursue a program and write a thesis in English must meet a minimum score requirement in one of the recognized standard language proficiency tests as follows:

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Supervision

Candidate are encouraged to be supervised by two (2) established and experienced academics based on their fields of study. Please refer to https://umexpert.um.edu.my to check for possible supervisors.

All applicants must contact and obtain the acknowledgement of the supervisors before submitting the application. One of the supervisors must be a regular academic at the AEI.

Research Intent

Applicants for doctoral degree programmes by research are required to submit a research proposal or research intent on the brief statement of the research programme which they propose to carry out. The research proposal/research intent should comprise the following elements:

Field of Research
Topic of Research
Statement of Problem (with supportive literature)
Research Objective
Research Methodology
Significant of the Research
References (if applicable)

The research proposal should contain maximum of 1,000 words. All proposals will go through plagiarism check by AEI (using the Turnitin service), and must pass the minimum requirement of 15% and below of similarity index.

Disclaimer

Please note that all decisions regarding the application is final, and the process of selection is vetted by the AEI selection committee.

All the requirements stated in this page are also subjected to any amendments approved from time to time.

All the CGPA mentioned above is using the 4.0 scale.

Fees

Click link below and select Asia-Europe Institute:

Graduation Requirement

Publication Requirements

Show proof of acceptance for publication as per the following (according to the criteria set in the publication guidelines), prior to graduation:

at least one (1) article in journals indexed by Web of Science (WoS); OR
at least one (1) article in a journal indexed by Scopus Q1/Q2; OR
at least two (2) articles in journals indexed by Scopus/Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)/ERA Journal List (Australian Research Council); OR
at least one (1) article in a journal indexed by Scopus and two (2) articles in the University of Malaya Journal; OR
at least one (1) book publication published under the Web of Science (WoS) Master Book List or University of Malaya Publisher or Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka or Malaysian Scientific Publishing Council (MAPIM) or any publisher recognized and listed by AEI; OR
at least two (2) book chapter publications published in the Web of Science Master Book List or Malaysian Scientific Publishing Council (MAPIM) or University of Malaya Publisher or Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka or any publisher recognized and listed by AEI. Two (2) book chapters from different books are equivalent to one (1) publication.

Contact Person

For any enquiries regarding Doctoral Programme by Research at the AEI, please contact Mr. Zahadin at zahadin@um.edu.my

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)