Grants and Writing Resources for the University of Malaya

Four students from the Faculty of Business and Economics, all in bachelor's programmes, were named Malaysia Champion at the HSBC Malaysia Business Case Competition 2026. The win carried a RM15,000 prize and sent the team to the HSBC Asia Pacific and Global Finals in Hong Kong in June. In May, a doctoral candidate from the Faculty of Medicine took second prize at the UM3MT 2026 university final and qualified for the National Three Minute Thesis Competition hosted by Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Three Minutes, One Slide

The Universiti Malaya Three Minute Thesis competition starts in the faculties. In the Faculty of Medicine, entry is open to doctoral candidates who have passed their Proposal Defence, and graduates can't enter. The 2026 university final was held at the Confucius Institute on 21 May.

The talk runs three minutes, with a single static slide and no props. Under the 2025 UM3MT rules, the university-level winner received RM2,000 and a certificate; second and third places received RM1,000 and RM500.

Prizes for Legal Writing

The University of Malaya Law Review runs the UMLR Legal Writing Competition for LL.B undergraduates at universities recognised by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board. The 2026 question asked whether the doctrine of separability in arbitration always delivers justice. First place carried RM1,500, second RM1,000 and third RM800, and all three winners were offered publication in UMLR, an internship and a certificate.

Every second year the Faculty of Law holds the Azmi Khalid Essay Competition, backed by its Class of 1982 alumni. Any full-time student at a public or private university in Malaysia may enter. The 2025 theme was the rule of law under the Constitution, essays ran 2,500 to 3,000 words, and the prizes were RM5,000, RM3,000 and RM1,000.

Paying for a Research Degree

Master's and PhD researchers hired as Graduate Research Assistants on a research grant are covered by the Universiti Malaya Scholarship Scheme (UMSS) and draw a stipend of at least RM1,000 a month, for up to three years depending on the grant. Full research students in that role who are still within the Graduate on Time period can also apply for a tuition fee waiver. The waiver is 100 percent when the stipend is RM1,000 to RM2,000 and steps down to zero above RM4,000.

Some faculties run separate grant schemes. The Faculty of Business and Economics listed a Postgraduate Special Research Grant (GPKIT) among its 2026 schemes, open to postgraduate researchers and academic staff.

Thesis Writing and Deposit

In 2026 the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine ran a free six-session Scientific Writing Workshop Series for its PhD students, capped at 20 places, running from the fundamentals of scientific writing to the responsible use of AI in thesis writing. The same department held a two-day Effective Thesis Writing Workshop in June.

The Faculty of Education's 2022 thesis guidelines require APA 7th edition and a Turnitin similarity index of 15 percent or less. Under the Library's repository policy, every postgraduate candidate signs a repository form and deposits an electronic copy, which goes into the UM Students' Repository.

Before a thesis or dissertation goes to the examiners, our editors can give it a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our University of Malaya dissertation and thesis editing page, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

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• Methodology Chapter Secrets: Building the Architecture of Your Argument
• Literature Synthesis: Moving Beyond the Summary toward Authority