A Curtin postgraduate degree can take you places

Graduates with first degrees and ambitious working adults seeking to further empower themselves can choose from a number of postgraduate degrees by coursework or research at Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) that will give them additional knowledge to advance in their professions, specialise in a particular area, or take their careers in promising new directions.

As Curtin University’s largest international campus and global campus in Asia, Curtin Malaysia offers different levels of postgraduate study and industry-aligned Curtin programmes under its Faculty of Engineering and Science, Faculty of Business and Faculty of Humanities in collaboration with the Curtin Malaysia Graduate School and relevant faculties at Curtin’s main campus in Perth, Western Australia.

For those seeking to advance their careers, Curtin’s postgraduate degrees are highly regarded. Studying a Curtin postgraduate degree will not only help them refine their discipline-specific knowledge and skills, but also greatly improve their transferable skills, which are highly sought by employers.

Some of the postgraduate degrees only require a bachelor degree to apply, making it easy for postgraduate students to change careers if they choose. The degrees are also designed to help them develop knowledge and skills in new areas, so they will not feel like they are starting from scratch.

Furthermore, many of the degrees are designed with global perspectives, challenging the students to broaden their perspectives and gain invaluable cross-cultural skills. They will also benefit from Curtin’s strong links to business and industry, working on real projects and research initiatives, undertaking internships and attending events and networking opportunities.

If they have undertaken study or work experience that match part of their degrees, appropriate credit will be given so that they can reduce their course duration, and if they cannot commit to long degrees, some programmes offer graduate certificates or diplomas, allowing them to graduate within six months to a year.

The coursework degrees include the Master of Engineering Management, which helps practising engineers advance their careers by acquiring engineering oriented management skills. The course provides a balance between engineering and business skills jointly taught by staff from the Faculty of Engineering and Science and Faculty of Business.

The Faculty of Engineering and Science also offers the Master of Petroleum Engineering, a highly comprehen­sive course that provides students with a mul­ti-disciplinary education in petroleum engineering covering a wide variety of subjects core to the petrole­um engineering field.

The Faculty of Business, meanwhile, offers the Master of International Business, which provides a highly practical perspective on demanding business issues such as how to lead in a multifaceted, international and multicultural global environment. The course also helps experienced managers and entrepreneurs to keep abreast with the latest international business strategies, especially in light of globalisation.

The Faculty also offers the Master of Commerce in Marketing, which is ranked second in Australia in the 2017 Eduniversal Best Masters Ranking. The course provides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the principles of marketing management and strategy, buyer behaviour and marketing research, as well as key specialist topics relevant to contemporary marketing theory and practice.

For those keen to acquire a foundation in the core areas of policy analysis and management, Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Humanities offers the Master of Policy Sciences, which helps students and develop a framework which emphasises policy formulation, implemen­tation and evaluation within the public and private sector.

The Faculty also offers the Master of Project Management, which provides the opportunity to gain the understanding, knowledge and skills necessary for performing the role of project manager. The course, which includes graduate certificate and diploma levels, adopts a generic approach to project management and is applicable to any project in a variety of industries.

In addition to the coursework degrees, Curtin Malaysia offers higher degree by research (HDR) programmes that provide an exciting learning environment for tomorrow’s leading researchers. The research degrees are offered at both Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level, where the award of degrees is based on the successful completion of a major piece of research conducted individually and under expert supervision.

All HDR programmes are administered by the Curtin Malaysia Graduate School, which was established in 2015 to advance and promote postgraduate education and assist in the growth of a vibrant research culture. The School sets the academic standard and monitors progress of all research students. It also provides the necessary resources and research training to ensure students conduct their research in a supportive and stimulating environment.

MPhil programmes normally require one to two years of supervised individual research study, and the successful completion of the MPhil indicates the candidate has contributed significantly to the field of study and is capable of carrying out independent research.

PhD programmes, meanwhile, usually take at least three years of research study and candidates are expected to uncover new knowledge through the discovery of new facts, the formulation of new theories, or innovative interpretation of known data and established ideas. It is also expected that the results from a doctoral research study are publishable in reputable academic journals.

Study support for research students is provided through full or partial fee waivers or Curtin Malaysia Postgraduate Research Studentship (CMPRS) grants.

Research students can join any of the research clusters within the Faculties or the Curtin Malaysia Research Institute (CMRI). Clusters within the Faculty of Engineering and Science focus on Energy and Environment-related issues such as computational engineering science, renewable energy, hydrology and environmental geochemistry, geomechanics, intelligent systems, signal processing and communications, materials and structures, bio-process technologies, bionanotechnology, and environmental science, to name a few.

The foci of research clusters at the Faculty of Business include entrepreneurship and organisational performance, governance and disclosure, financial markets and macroeconomic dynamics, marketing and tourism, business information systems and organisational research, and rural entrepreneurship.

At the Faculty of Humanities, research is focused on the role of media in today’s society, the evolving New Media channels, and cultural and indigenous studies.

Alongside the research clusters in the Faculties, the Curtin Malaysia Research Institute (CMRI), which was established to promote research excellence, also encourages multi-disciplinary and collaborative research in big data analytics, water management, indigenous futures and community engagement, sustainable food, health informatics and genomics, and bioprocess technologies.

The newly-completed, state government-funded Sarawak Biovalley Pilot Plant Facility for biotechnological research, and the completion of a new Engineering Research Laboratory this year, and a Digital Centre of Excellence in the next two years, will also significantly boost research and knowledge accumulation at the campus.

For more information the postgraduate programmes at Curtin Malaysia, visit courses.curtin.edu.my/courses-and-study/postgrad/.