National University of Malaysia

The National University of Malaysia (Malay: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, abbreviated as UKM) is a public research university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), is located in Cheras and also has a branch campus in Kuala Lumpur. The university also has an overseas branch campus in Lusail City, Doha since 2023.
In 2022, there are a total of 39,524 students enrolled into the university, 22,127 of which are undergraduate students, while 14,744 are postgraduate students, with 9,083 being Master students and 5,691 being PhD students. Other than that, there are also 413 Asasi Pintar students, 2,175 postgraduate diploma students, and 35 graduate diploma students.
Among all the students, 4,914 of them are international students from 66 countries, in which 60% are postgraduate while 40% are undergraduate. Majority of UKM's international students are from China, and then followed by Indonesia and Iraq.
Since its establishment in 1970, the Malay language was used as the university's medium of instruction.
In 1968, Sabah Government's Teachers Union (KGKS) and Angkatan Gaya Baru Sabah expressed their support for the establishment of UKM. The union in its statement said that the university's establishment will "provide a strong inspiration to students and the Malay intellectuals".
A Sponsoring Committee chaired by Syed Nasir Ismail, a Malay intellectual, was set up to prepare a report recommended the establishment of UKM. Other prominent members of this committee include Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, who was then the Education Minister, and Dr. Mohd Rashdan Haji Baba, who later became UKM's first Vice-Chancellor.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia opened its doors on 18 May 1970 to 192 undergraduate students in Jalan Pantai Baru, Kuala Lumpur, a temporary campus housing three main faculties, the Faculties of Science, Arts and Islamic Studies. In October 1977, UKM moved to its present premises which form the main campus in Bangi. The campus has a size of 1,096 ha (2,710 acres). UKM has two health campuses, the Kuala Lumpur campus in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, and the UKM Medical Centre in Cheras. The Kuala Lumpur campus consists of the Faculties of Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Dentistry and the Pre-Clinical Departments of the Medical Faculty. With a size of 20 ha (49 acres), the Kuala Lumpur campus was established in 1974.
The campus in Cheras consists of the Medical Faculty, the UKM Teaching Hospital (Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM (HCTM)) and the UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI). The Cheras campus was opened in 1997. Besides these campuses, UKM operates seven research stations (RS): The Tasik Chini RS, The Marine Ecosystem RS, The Langkawi Geopark RS, The Marine RS, The Fraser's Hill RS, The Plant Biotechnology RS and in the main campus itself, the UKM Campus Living Laboratory, which comprises the UKM Permanent Forest Reserve, or its Malay name, Hutan Simpan Kekal UKM as well as the Fernarium and the Herbarium.
UKM was awarded the status of a Malaysian Research University in October 2006 by the Ministry of Higher Education, a move designed to try to propel the universities into leading research universities in line with the Higher Education Strategic Plan 2007–2020.
In 2006, UKM won the Prime Minister's Quality Award.
In 2023, UKM established its first overseas branch campus in Lusail City, Qatar. The branch campus was established with the collaboration of The Regional Group of Qatar, who provided the facilities, infrastructure, equipments and meterials for the campus. The agreement to set up the Qatar campus was signed on 19 May 2022. The opening of the campus was inaugurated by Prime Minister Anwar Ibhrahim on 14 May 2024.
The current coat of arms of the UKM was first designed by university staffer Mohd Aris Atan and has been in use since 1972. It was modified to its present form by publications officer Zulkifli Ibrahim, which was launched on 29 July 2000 in conjunction with the university's 30th anniversary, with stripes added to the tiger's body. The arms is depicted as a quartered shield featuring an atomic symbol, a compass, a gear, a Malayan tiger and the national flower, Bunga Raya, or hibiscus rosa-sinensis, with an overlaid book placed on top of it. The atomic symbol represents science, the compasses and gear represent technology, the tiger represents strength and courage and the book represents knowledge. It is blazoned:
The first coat of arms of the university designed by the First Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, was different from the present one. It was blazoned as:
The crest featured a scroll inscribed with the words 'Zidni Ilman', which means increase me in knowledge, a reference to the word in Surah 20 Taha, Verse 114 of the Quran.
In 2010, the University's corporate logo was created by its Centre for Corporate Communications, featuring the coat of arms accompanied by the names of the university in Malay and English. The Malay name (UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA) is big and presented in upper case, with the letters U, K and M bigger than the rest. The English name (The National University of Malaysia) is small, italicised and presented in sentence case.
The National University of Malaysia is currently one of the three public universities in Malaysia to adopt its coat of arms, the other two are the University of Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
The following is a list of vice-chancellors of the National University of Malaysia.
As of November 2024, there are a total of 12 faculties, 2 schools and 12 research institutes in UKM offering various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Majority of them are located in the main UKM campus in Bangi.
The Bangi campus is accessible by car through Jalan Bangi-Kajang B17 (also known as Jalan Reko).
The KB07 UKM KTM station is also connected to the northeastern side of the campus, but passengers from the railway station who wish to enter the campus must either use an e-hailing service, or walk to the KJ215 bus stop located around 200m away from the railway station, and then board the T451 MRT feeder bus or the Zon 3 and Zon 4 bus (previously Zon 6) to enter the university compound.
Passengers from inside the campus could also travel to downtown Kuala Lumpur by taking the T451 MRT feeder bus, which connects to KG34 Stadium Kajang MRT station and KG35 KB06 Kajang station, where passengers can then board the 9 Kajang Line or 1 Batu Caves-Pulau Sebang Line to continue their journey into downtown Kuala Lumpur.
For intra-campus travel between faculties and residential colleges, students can take the Zon 1, Zon 2, Zon 3, and Zon 4 buses, which came with 30 minutes frequency, except lunch time (1:00PM~2:00PM) and dinner time (7:00PM~8:00PM). These bus routes are free of charge and are operated by TMJ Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd. since 19 May 2024, before that they were operated by Kiffah Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd.
Alternatively, students may also take the T451 MRT feeder bus for intra-campus travel but a fee of RM1 will be charged as compared to the free Zon 1~4 buses.
The campus is accessible by car through Jalan Yaacob Latif. The nearest MRT station to the Cheras campus is the KG24 Taman Midah MRT station, while the nearest LRT station is the SP13 Salak Selatan LRT station, and both stations can be reached by taking the T402 MRT feeder bus.
In the future, the campus will also be connected to the CC23 Jalan Yaacob Latif MRT station of the proposed 13 MRT Circle Line, which will be located directly in front of the KKL Azman Hashim Sports Arena, and is expected to be completed and operational by 2032.
At the Kuala Lumpur campus, the nearest 8 KL Monorail station is the MR10 Chow Kit station, while the nearest MRT station is the PY18 Hospital Kuala Lumpur MRT station on 12 Putrajaya Line. Both stations are within 5 minutes walking distance from the KL campus.
When the Times Higher Education (THE) Guide University Rankings was published in October 2014, it was reported that UKM, along with Universiti Malaya, opted not to submit data for consideration. The UKM Strategic Centre deputy executive director Associate, Professor Dr. Masturah Markom, responded by saying that the rankings were unfair to the Malaysian educational context. She specifically cited the measurement of "industry income" in the THE methodology of university assessment, stating that Malaysian industry input cannot compete with other countries such as the United States of America. This is despite the fact that only a 2.5% weightage is allocated to "industry income" in the methodology, with more conventional categories such as teaching and research still making up 90%.
On 30 October 2022, an infographic poster published by the university and outlining the dress code for the upcoming 2022 convocation draws ire and went viral on social media. The poster in question shown examples of what attire is acceptable and unacceptable to be worn during the ceremony for both male and female graduates.
However, cheongsam and saree, both being the traditional dresses for Chinese and Indian women respectively, were listed as "inappropriate" and prohibited alongside short-sleeved blouse and knee-length skirt. This immediately sparked online accusations of racial discrimination or racial bias against the university. The poster hosted on the university's website was then deleted on the same day.
A day later on 31 October 2022, UKM uploaded a revised version of its latest dress code guideline for the upcoming convocation. The new guidelines said graduands and guests attending the convocation ceremony will be allowed to wear baju kebangsaan (national attire), but it did not specify which national attire is allowed, only explicitly stating all items of clothing worn must be dark-coloured, fully sleeved and extend to one’s ankle.
On 5 April 2021, Fahmi Reza, who is a political satirical artist and activist, uploaded an artwork resembling the coat of arms of UKM with the accompanying text "Universiti Katak Kebangsaan" (National Frog University), on his social media. The artwork was supposed to symbolise Communications Minister Saifuddin Abdullah’s reputation for political party hopping. Fahmi later claimed that “It is just a satirical, fictitious logo for a fictitious [frog] university that gave out that fictitious master’s degree” and has "nothing to do with UKM".
Due to the resemblance of the artwork to UKM's coat of arms, Fahmi Reza was hit with a letter of demand by UKM on 7 April 2021, claiming such artwork is an insult against the university and demanded him to delete the artwork from his social media within 7 days, failing which will result in legal action taken against him. However, Fahmi said he refuse to comply with such demand. Fahmi was also investigated and has his statement recorded by the Kajang police over the artwork.
In the month preceding the 15th General Election held on 19 November 2022, Fahmi Reza went on a tour at numerous universities around the country and held a forum titled "Kelas Demokrasi" (Democracy Class) with the aim to increase political literacy among the universities' youths. However, his Kelas Demokrasi forum held at the UKM Bangi campus on 10 November 2022, with over 200 students attending, was shut down by the university's auxiliary police and security 10 minutes after it was started. UKM's security shut down the sound system and told the crowd to disperse. UKM's management said such event requires permission for it to be held on campus. The forum was later relocated to C&P Coffee Company in Bandar Baru Bangi, which is located outside the campus.
On 3 February 2025, Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, the Vice-Chancellor of UKM since 2021 announced his resignation, effective 2 February 2025. Mohd Ekhwan in his resignation message also said "Thank you for all the slander and accusations that have been thrown in my way, for which police reports and reports to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have already been made". The police later confirmed they have received police reports from Mohd Ekhwan and two top management personnel of the university, and is investigating the case as a defamation case.
His resignation came amidst allegations that an audit has revealed his involvement in abuse of power, manipulation in the tender process and misappropriation of funds of the university. A Malay online tabloid alleged that Negeri Sembilan's ruler and Chancellor of UKM, Tuanku Muhriz, was "angered" by the revelations and did not invite UKM's top management to his birthday and titles awarding ceremony on 14 January of the same year.
On 12 February 2025, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz ordered the revocation of Mohd Ekhwan's title Darjah Setia Bakti Negeri Sembilan (DBNS) with immediate effect. The Negeri Sembilan palace said this was done to "uphold the dignity and honour of the Royal Institution in Negeri Sembilan".