MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PLANT DIVERSITY AND GENETIC MANAGEMENT

Study Duration
Minimum 2 semesters (full time) / 4 semesters (part time)
Maximum 4 semesters (full time) / 8 semesters (part time)
*all lectures during weekdays and office hours (including part time)

Intake
Intake – 2 times a year (March & October)
*subjected to UKM academic calendar

STPD6024 Research Methodology
This course provides guidance in planning, implementing, and succeeding in scientific research. Students are introduced to the philosophy of science and ethics necessary to be adopted by researchers. Students are given exposure to determine and manage risks in scientific research. Apart from that, issues and rules related to research such as intellectual property, copyright, plagiarism etc. will be discussed. Subsequently, students are guided to plan their research and prepare a research proposal. For this, students are trained with techniques in information search both manually and on-line, identifying issues and research objectives, planning research and experimental design within their period of study. Students are required to prepare their research proposal according to the format and free from plagiarism. Students are given the opportunity to present and defend their proposal in a seminar. Students will be evaluated based on written and oral presentation of the research proposal, and final examination.

STAP6043 Biodiversity and Plant Systematics
This course covers an introduction to radiation protection and safety of radiation sources, basic nuclear physic and mathematics including statistics used in radiation protection. This course also includes interaction of radiation with matter and sources of radiation and also detection and measurement of quantum particles.

STAB6903 Diversity of Plant Genetic Resources
This course covers a wide range of topics in diversity of plant genetic resources, and focuses on plant species for food, livestock, horticultural, biomaterials, construction, and medical industries. These include general principles of plant diversity (evolution, domestication, breeding), centre of origin and centre of diversity, categories of plant genetic resources, their values, importances and distributions, factors that threaten plant genetic resources, gene pool concepts, plant reproductive systems, cytogenetic variation , introgression, vulnerability and genetic erosion, and issues related to plant genetic resources including cooperation between various countries in conservation, management and research on plant genetic resources, as well as farmer’s and breeder’s rights. This course also has field visit.

STAB6923 Advanced Plant Biotechnology
The course gives an introduction and overview of important advances ingenome study and analysis and the application of the derived information in plant biotechnology that can be applied to crop improvement or tree breeding programmes. The course will introduce the students to various aspects of genomics, bioinformatics and genetic manipulation including mapping plant genomes with molecular markers, map-based cloning, genome sequencing, sequence analysis, cloning vectors, transformation method and analysis of transgenic plants. The practicals, seminars and visits are designed to expose these students to the technologies and to help them link the knowledge to application.

STAB6143 Economic Botany and Ethnobotany
The course will focus and discuss the plant botanical aspects that have economic and ethnobotanical importance to man including their role in culture and civilisation of man. It also covers some plant commodity groups such as food crops (rice and other carbohydrate sources), medicinal plants and plants in rural and urban landscape. A brief history on the use of plants among the people of Southeast Asia will be outlined from the aspects of biology, environment, socio-economy, culture and their roles in modern utilisation such as plantation crops and agro- biotechnology.

STAB6914 Plant Breeding
Plant breeding is a method of plant improvement based on genetic principles. This course will discuss basic genetics covering the concept of genetic control over quantitative and qualitative characteristics, inheritance mechanisms, methods of determining heritability values, genotype due to environmental interaction, the concept of polyploidy and mutation, as well as the basics of population genetics and quantitative genetics. Next, this course will focus on the principles of plant breeding covering plant breeding systems, plant breeding methods, selection and hybridization concepts, marker-assisted breeding concepts, gene manipulation and genetic engineering. This course also explains the procedure for registration of new plant varieties. In addition to lectures, this course also involves field trips.

STAB6134 Phylogeny, Diversity and Taxonomy of Cryptogams
This course discusses aspects of taxonomy, ecology, phytogeography, reproductive biology, diversity, classification and phylogeny of lower-level plants or cryptogams. It will cover the three main groups of cryptogamous plants namely algae, bryophytes and pteridophytes. Practice on the techniques of collecting, clipping, slicing and slide preparation and identification methods will also be given to the three groups. Mini projects will be given to enhance understanding and application of knowledge.

STAB6123 Data Management and Taxonomy Resources
This course discusses how to record and document the information of plants (bryophytes, ferns and higher plants) collected during fieldwork. Collection of information includes nomenclature, plant morphology, geography, ecology, and economic value. This information is very important for the management and storage of specimens in the herbarium for reference and research purposes. Students will learn the theory and concept of biodiversity assessment using several biodiversity software in taxonomy resources management. The course also covers practical analysis of the raw data through biodiversity assessment in resource management to associate data obtained from the field with the environment. Finally, students also will be exposed to the geographical information system as technologies in taxonomy resources management. The course also covers spatial data processing and positioning of spatial location for spatial mapping purposes, which the analysis will enable students to determine the relationship between taxonomic data distribution and the environment.

STAB6153 Micromorphology and Plant Anatomy
This course discusses the diversity of anatomical features and micromorphological features of leaves, including pollen features on plants including their function and importance. The anatomical and micromorphological features of the leaves as well as the suitability of such features as additional evidence in the systematic study of plants are discussed in more detail. Examples will be given from local species and some foreign species. The morphological characteristics of pollen used for species identification will also be discussed including type, class and aperture decoration. Related mini projects are given to students to increase their understanding and implications to the application of the acquired knowledge.

STAB6003 Biodiversity Conservation and Management
Conservation and management of biological diversity is a multidisciplinary field of science that encompasses the philosophies of morality, social justice, economics, politics and sustainable development, in addition to biodiversity and natural habitat protection. Both aspects of conservation and management of biodiversity are important to consider when using natural resources to ensure sustainable development. The multidisciplinary approach is applied through lectures and discussions on the history of conservation biology, international agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, and national attempts to safeguard biodiversity through various acts, strategies and policies. In-depth discussion is given to the issues and problems facing biodiversity, particularly the impact of climate change, habitat loss, and the introduction of invasive alien species. Among the topics on conservation include the establishment of protected areas; rehabilitation of species, populations, habitats and ecosystems; integrated conservation and development project (ICDP); conservation status guide in the IUCN Red List database; and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Fieldwork involves assessing the impact of tourism activities and anthropogenic factors on the conservation and management of biodiversity at UNESCO/RAMSAR sites in Peninsular Malaysia. The use of latest technologies in conservation and management of biodiversity, especially those related to IR4.0, such as drone technology, IoT and nanotechnology will be discussed.

STAB6094 Ecological Data Analysis
Ecological data is a set of measurements collected by scientists which includes analytical and conceptual frameworks. Ecological data systems usually consist of many types of data. This course provides various numerical methods for analyzing ecological data. This course is divided into four parts. The first and second parts involve biodiversity assessment methods and approaches such as Bayesian method in ecological studies and wildlife management. The third and fourth parts are big data analysis using appropriate software such as R software and multivariate analysis to determine the interactions between biotic and abiotic data from ecological studies. Latest software will be introduced for statistical analysis, visualization, and big data. This includes introduction and the roles of big data in ecological studies and metadata quality control. In addition, students will be exposed to a variety of experimental designs and statistical methods to answer various ecological questions, and critical evaluation on the results obtained from ecological studies.

STAB6163 Biogeography
Biogeography is a multidisciplinary science related to various field such as biology, geography, geology, palaeontology and ecology. Biogeography explains about biological diversity covering aspects of species diversity, ecosystems and genetics. Biogeography seeks to answer basic question such as why are there so many living creatures? Why are they distributed in the way they are? How they occupied current distribution patterns? How are the present activities of human affecting these patterns? What are their prospects of future? The course is organized into four parts. The first part covers ecological aspects including geographical variations in physical environmental conditions and factors limiting the distribution of species. The second part covers historical aspects such as speciation, extinction, dispersal, endemism and reconstructing biogeographic histories. The third part covers the distribution of taxa in the context of time and space and the fourth part covers ecological biogeography such as equilibrium theory of island biogeography, island patterns and relation to conservation processes. Students will also learn data analysis methods in the field of biogeography that involve the latest molecular genetics approaches and big data applications in line with IR4.0.

STAB6063 Curatorial Science
This course will discuss the science of curation which includes theory, practice and understanding of the role of natural history collections in biological conservation. The course also emphasizes the importance of natural history collections as a reference for education and research. Students will be trained on methods of sampling, preparation, identification and curation of animal and plant specimens at the flora and fauna repository facilities at UKM, namely the Insect Systematics Centre, Herbarium Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi and the Natural History Museum Faculty of Science and Technology. Students will digitise specimens for data management in line with the latest curation method as part of the course assessment. Students will also have the opportunity to visit one of the national specimen repositories.

STAB6173 Principles and Methods of Phylogeny Reconstruction
This course discusses the use of molecular data in plant/animal systematics. Various types of molecular data and multiple sequence alignment of molecular data are explained. The phylogenetic concepts are approached through the application of various phylogeny reconstruction methods i.e. Neighbour-Joining, Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood. Students will be exposed to data mining from public database, computer software such as BIOEDIT and PAUP for phylogenetic analyses.

STAB6084 Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
This course is about the application of the principles of economics to study how natural resources and the environment are developed and managed. Natural resources have a double- edge effect on economic growth, i.e., the intensity of their use increases output but also increases their depletion rate. Thus, students will be exposed to economic methods, techniques, and instruments in resolving issues such as resource scarcity, externalities, property rights, market failures, and public goods. These economic analyses provide a strong basis for well-informed decision-making that may directly or indirectly affect our environment. Fieldwork and interviews will be conducted to improve students’ understanding and aptitude for using environmental and natural resource valuation techniques. The implementation of fieldwork and interviews is through case studies, involving several environmental and natural resource sectors, such as fisheries and marine resources, forestry, wildlife (e.g. Jabatan Perhilitan), biodiversity, energy, and community-based geo-tourism (e.g. Man and Biosphere Reserve Tasik Chini dan Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark). Students should also discuss these case studies in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 13, 14 and 15.

STAP6974 Research Project I
This course aims to train students to conduct research in the field of biological sciences under supervision. Research is conducted through literature review and individual research. Students are required to prepare a preliminary research report with a chosen topic accompanied by a problem statement, hypothesis, significance or justification of the study, literature review and methods

STAP6986 Research Project II
This course aims to train students to do research in the field of biological sciences under the guidance of a supervisor. Research is conducted empirically and analytically. Students are required to prepare a final research report covering introduction, literature review, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Student is also required to give an oral presentation on the research findings

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field with minimum CGPA 2.50 or equivalent, from any institutions of higher learning  recognized by the UKM Senate; or
• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field with minimum CGPA 2.00 – 2.49 or equivalent, with minimum of 5 years working experience or research project in relevant field. Proof of the working experience of a foreign candidate should be acknowledge by the embassy of the respective country; or
• Fulfill Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL A) for local candidates only:
  • should be more than 30 years of age in the year of application; and
  • possess at least STPM or diploma in relevant field or other equivalent qualification recognized by the Government of Malaysia and approved by the UKM Senate; and
  • possess a certificate of MQA APEL with MQF Level 7
• An international student shall obtain minimum results of TOEFL iBT score 46 / IELTS band 5.5 / CEFR band B2 / MUET band 3 (An international student who comes from a country where English is the official language, or who has obtained academic qualifications from any institution of higher learning that uses English as the medium of instruction may be exempted from the requirement for TOEFL / IELTS / MUET); and
• Fulfill other requirements prescribed by the UKM Senate from time to time.

1. Research Officer
2. Researcher
3. Lecturer
4. Plant Breeder
5. Policy Makers