Malaysia has long understood the value of research. For decades, public funding helped universities build expertise, train postgraduates, publish widely, and contribute to national development. The Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) played a central role in that journey: it supported the kind of careful, methodical work that forms the bedrock of scientific progress. But Malaysia’s higher education landscape is changing. And with it, the country’s expectations of publicly funded research. Enter GET — Geran Eksploratori dan Transformatif, introduced under the Department of Higher Education (JPT). On paper, it is “just another grant”. In reality, it is a statement: Malaysia is no longer satisfied with research that is merely correct and publishable. It wants research that is bold, strategic, and capable of shifting systems.

A collaborative initiative between the Office of the Deputy Dean (Postgraduate, Research and Innovation) and the Food Science and Technology Postgraduates Society (FoSTePS) successfully organised a seminar titled “Stop Procrastinating Your Thesis.” A total of 19 postgraduate students participated in the session, comprising Master’s by Coursework (MSKK), Master’s by Research, and PhD candidates.