The University of Reading in Malaysia officially inaugurated its new campus in Iskandar, Johor last week, which will have the capacity to cater for 3,000 students.
The campus started enrolling students this past September, but has the capacity to cater for 3,000. Photo: University of Reading MalaysiaIt is the University of Reading’s first multidisciplinary campus overseas, and its fifth campus overall, together with its two Reading campuses, and Henley Business School campuses in Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire and overseas in Johannesberg.
“Students in the UK will also increasingly have the opportunity to use UoRM as a base to study and travel in Asia”
The campus, which is part of an investment of £13m (80m MYR) by the University of Reading to date, started enrolling students this past September, but the campus has the capacity to cater for 3,000, which, according to a university spokesperson, plans to grow to this number “within a few years”.
“The 21st century will be Asia’s century,” they told The PIE News.
“We already had strong links with the region, and Malaysia in particular, through a strong alumni network and partnerships with other institutions.”
With this new campus, every student enrolling at the University of Reading Malaysia will have the chance to study part of their course in the UK, according to the spokesperson.
“Students in the UK will also increasingly have the opportunity to use UoRM as a base to study and travel in Asia – helping all Reading students to enrich their university experience, and become the global citizens that employers increasingly look for,” they said.
Students are expected to come to the campus from Southeast or East Asia, “including a large number from Malaysia itself,” the spokesperson added.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by 400 people and also saw Vicki Treadell, the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, and Ong See Lian, the first non-British President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, receive honorary degrees.
The University of Reading Malaysia started teaching its first foundation and undergraduate courses in September in business, finance, psychology, real estate and quantity surveying.
The MBA from Henley Business School will start this month.
Located at EduCity, Iskandar in the Malaysian region of Johor, close to Singapore, the campus is spread over 30,000 square metres in two buildings.
It will include a learning resource centre, four lecture theatres and teaching and reseach laboratories.
EduCity also serves as the location for other overseas campuses, including Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia and the University of Southampton Malaysia campus.
