A public university in Malaysia is seeking a UK university to partner with in student mobility and exchanges. The university is able to offer subsidised accommodation and transportation to their exchange students, thus lowering the cost of the exchange to UK students.

The public university is based in East Malaysia (also known as Borneo) and offers a fantastic international experience to UK students in terms of culture, nature and food. The duration of the exchange can be short (two weeks) or long (up to a term/semester)

The university has a mobility fund for their students going overseas and currently sends students out to Korea and Japan. They are keen to both receive and send students to the UK. 

The target months for the mobility will be between April - August, beginning next year. Thus, the university is keen to start discussions now so they can start receiving students mid-2019.

Moving forward, the university also aims to foster some research and staff exchanges.

Commentary from Jennifer Wan, Head of Education Services, British Council Malaysia

Public universities in Malaysia are constantly pushed to internationalise and one of their KPIs is to foster collaborations in student mobility. Universities in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and China are getting more and more aggressive in promoting their countries and institutions and thus, have set up various student mobility and TNE collaborations with local universities. Malaysian students exposed to these countries and institutions are - most of the time - very receptive, making these countries gaining popularity for Malaysian students to get an international experience.

UK institutions should consider student mobility as one of their strategies in attracting Malaysian students who might otherwise be considering other options. UK students who come to Borneo will have an opportunity to experience a rich and biodiverse culture and nature, which is also perfect for a tropical ecosystem research, something not available in other European countries.