Established as the second university in the country in 1969, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was first known as Universiti Pulau Pinang. In 1971, USM moved from its temporary premises at the Malayan Teachers’ Training College, Bukit Gelugor to the present 416.6 hectare site at Minden, approximately 9.7 km from Georgetown.
USM offers courses ranging from Natural Sciences, Applied Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences to Building Science and Technology, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education. These are available at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to approximately 30,000 students at its 17 Academic Schools on the main campus in the island of Penang; 6 Schools at the Engineering Campus in Nibong Tebal (approximately 50km from the main campus); and 3 at the Health Campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan (approximately 300km from the main campus).
USM also has 17 dedicated research centres for a wide range of specialisations which include archaeology, medicine and dentistry, molecular medicine, science and technology, Islamic development and management studies, and policy research and international studies. It also provides consultancy, testing, and advisory services to the industry under the ambit of USAINS Holdings Sdn Bhd, the University’s commercial arm.
Since the beginning, USM has adopted the School system rather than the traditional Faculty system to ensure that its students are multi-disciplined from their exposure to other areas of study by other Schools. It also encourages students to be active in extra-curricular activities given the myriad of clubs and societies available.
As a Research Intensive University recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) in 2007, USM offers educational and research opportunities to students and staff. In 2008, USM also became the first university in the country to be selected by the Malaysian government to participate in the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX), a fast-track programme that helps tertiary institutions achieve world-class status.
Academic: GPA of 3 or above on their studies to date
English Language:
– IELTS: 6 (no subscore below 5)
– TOEFL iBT: 79
– Duolingo English Test: 100 (no subscore below 90)
14 October 2024 – 23 February 2025
Applicants 2022
Applicants : 130 students
GPA : 3.13-4.00
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6.5-7
Duolingo English Test Score : 0-140
Awardees 2022
Awardees : 14 students
GPA : 3.31-3.84
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 110-135
Applicants 2023
Regular Applicants : 417 students
GPA : 3.00-4.00
TOEFL iBT Score : 67-78
IELTS Score : 6-7.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 20-140
Co-funding Applicants : 37 students
GPA : 2.95-3.93
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6-8
Duolingo English Test Score : 95-140
Awardees 2023
Regular Awardees : 15 students
GPA : 3.43-3.98
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 7.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 125-140
Co-funding Awardees : 23 students
GPA : 3.43-3.93
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6.5-7.5
Duolingo English Test Score : 105-140
Available Courses
The course aims to introduce the core knowledge of international business as a core subject in the bachelor program. The students will be exposed to globalization, international business theories, government intervention in international business, emerging market, foreign market entry strategies and the existence of regional economic integration that affect international business.
This course is designed to increase students’ awareness of the functions and importance of effective communication in the business. This course focuses on the application of communication principles in achieving organizational goals. Special emphasis is placed on developing writing and speaking proficiency in English.
This course involves a lot of discussions among students about contemporary current economic issues. Students are expected to apply the theories learned throughout the program to analyze current economic problems. This course involves a lot of readings and students are expected to be alert on the development of the current world economy. This course will also discuss alternatives to solving current economic problems that are relevant at a particular time.
This course focuses on the fundamentals of acting and emphasizes spontaneous communication in movement, dialogue, expression and emotion.The students explore the tools of an actor – voice, body, gesture and the embodiment of these in a natural manner. This course concentrates on acting skills through the use of improvisational techniques and performance. The course also focuses on verbal and nonverbal language used in by actors to communicate with co-actors and audience.
This course introduces students to the concept of sustainable development in order to ensure that the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is not compromised especially with regards to their ability in handling the challenges of globalization and the rapid developments in information technology. This is carried out by placing an emphasis on education as an important agenda in the development of the nation – not only in order to increase the generation of knowledge, but also to ensure prosperity both regionally and globally. Sustainable development is concerned with maintaining equity between the three aspects of a competitive economy, diverse biodiversity and social integrity. In this subject, the sustainable development concept is emphasized to contribute towards a stable development and performance. Issues, effects and case studies are discussed globally by taking examples of sustainable projects worldwide. Moreover, this course will carry out the application of education for sustainable development in various fields of discipline. The sustainable development models such as Triple Sustainable Model, The Strong Sustainable Model and The Mickey Mouse Model will also be discussed. At the end of this course, students will exposed to the implementation of a sustainability project in groups.
A study on how market operates is the basis to microeconomics theory and understanding how market operation is important in order to understand how our economy system is functioning. While forming a coherent view on the economic reality, microeconomics provides techniques that may increase the role in developing public policy and individual decision-making. Other than the fundamental topics in understanding the operation systems of Malaysian economy and its relationship with the development of public policy, other topics that will also be discussed are the elasticity of demand, system of economy, theory and cost of production, and advantage and disadvantages of a market structure.
The course aims to provide students with the theories, concepts, techniques and practices of modern management which are important in the context of business world. It has four essential management functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Students are exposed to the most contemporary and up-to-date account of the changing environment of management and management practices in the real-life management context.
This course provides students with a conceptual understanding of the financial decision making. It introduces the basic concept in finance such as time value of money and; risk and return. These concepts are then applied to topics such as capital budgeting and securities valuation. Besides, policies on capital structure and working capital will also be looked at in the course.
This course will provide a thoughtful and practical guide to the process of successfully launching a business and growing at international level. This course will focus on a thorough analysis of the entrepreneurial process-particularly opportunity recognition and feasibility analysis of a new venture and progressively internationalise that new venture to achieve global recognition. It will also focus on the growing influence of green products and services in the global market and restrictions placed by trading blocs on products and services not meeting green requirements.
This course equips students with the essential skills in professional communication covering concepts, process and work both as an individual and within a group environment. This course enables students to develop their conceptual and research skills in achieving technical and creative outcomes, and to obtain essential skills in managing time and resources of their design projects.
This course introduces pronunciation guide, basic sentence structures and word classes such as nouns, verbs, prepositions and adjectives in Malay language. All four language skills – writing, reading, listening and speaking are taught. A list of words, phrases and sentence structures are taught based on topics such as greetings, self introduction, introducing family members and others, daily activities, living, studying, shopping and holidaying in Malaysia.
This course discusses Malaysia from the perspectives of history, politics, social, cultural and economics. It looks at the relations between the country’s history and its politics, the formation of a plural society that has since become its important characteristics, as well as issues related to development in Malaysia. Students will also be exposed to contemporary issues in Malaysia such as the marginalized groups, popular culture, issues related to health and wellbeing, as well as looking at Malaysia from the global context.
The purpose of this course is to strengthen background knowledge in making design decisions, especially those related to the environment and architecture. “Occupant Comfort,” which is the ultimate goal of any design, requires scientific and practical assessment methods.
The course will begin by understanding the physical environment comprehensively, assessing the state and quality of the country’s environment, and examining the negative effects of unbalanced development. It is also linked to an understanding of the requirements for climate-based design, especially in tropical climates. The study includes aspects of passive environmental control in buildings, covering natural ventilation, lighting, shading, heat control, energy in buildings, and noise.
This course aims to provide students with theories, concepts, and practices related to societal, spatial, and environmental issues. Understanding the interrelationship and interaction of these three elements is crucial in the context of knowing, comprehending, and appreciating the social, economic, and environmental elements that support the concept of sustainable development. Discussions will focus on global issues and challenges related to sustainable development and the actions taken by communities at the global, regional, national, and local levels.
This course aims to polish students of B2 speaking level through purposeful presentations and are expected to reach CEFR C1 level. The course focuses on spoken production activities based on clear developed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects appropriate to the situation and person(s) concerned.
The course aims to introduce students to several important areas of philosophy through an examination of several fundamental philosophical issues such as being and existence, the concepts of knowledge and truth, the concepts of goodness and happiness, the concept of religion and thought. The study of these philosophical issues will be based upon the viewpoints of several eminent philosophers from the Western, Islamic, Indian, and Chinese philosophical traditions, and from the perspective of their relevance to human existence. [Medium of instruction: Bahasa Melayu]
This course aims to provide students with the basic understanding of the theories, concepts and application of Islamic faith in the whole contexts. Students will be prepared with all basics knowledge in Islamic Studies as a preparation for them to follow other courses in Islamic Studies.
[Medium of Instruction: Bahasa Melayu.
This course aims to provide students with the concepts and application of Islamic faith in the context of contemporary society. This course covers three scopes of basic beliefs: the concept of Tawhid, Nubuwwat and the concept of the afterlife. Students were also given an example of Islamic faith of current issues in the context of real situation of the communities.
[Medium of Instruction: Bahasa Melayu.
This course is one of the mandatory courses in the Minor component of Islamic Studies and every student who minored in the Islamic studies programme is required to take and pass the course. In general, this course will discuss the sources of Islamic law which refer to the principles of Islamic law that adopted by all Muslims. The discussions include the agreed sources of the Quran, Hadith, ijmak and Qiyas, as well as the unagreed sources which involve istishab, istihsan, masalih mursalah, uruf, fatwa by Sahaba.
[Medium of Instruction: Bahasa Melayu.
The course discusses the meaning of noble values and upright behaviour as well as the reasons why they are needed in the lives of mankind. This is then followed by discussions on the suggested Islamic ways of instilling and cultivating such noble values in the individual self, family and society till they become part of one’s habit and culture of life. All topics covered in the course are based on al-Quran and al-Hadith, the practices of the companions of Prophet Muhammad’s s.a.w., sayings and opinions of the distinguished Muslim scholars, findings from academic research etc.
[Medium of Instruction: Bahasa Melayu.