King awards prestigious BYDPA scholarships to 13 postgraduate students
Also present were Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Ab Aziz and PSD Human Capital Development Division director Datuk Jamalulail Abu Bakar.
In a Facebook post, Istana Negara said His Majesty consented to award scholarships for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) studies to 10 recipients and for Master's (Research) studies to three recipients.
Among the PhD recipients are Mohamad Fariz Haiqal Mohd Ruslan, who will pursue Pharmacology and Pharmacy at King's College London, and Karen Low Ka Ling, who will undertake the same field at UKM.
Also on the list are Muhammad Hamizan Zawawi from USM, who will study Biology, and Muhamad Aiman Hakim Nor Khalid from UKM, in the field of Mathematics and Statistics.
Other recipients at the PhD level include Sarah Dania Mohd Kahar (Universiti Malaya, Commercial Law), Teoh Shu Jou (Universiti Malaya, Data Management), Ahmad Firdaus Ahmad Sukri (USM, Biotechnology), Nurul Angelyn Zulhairy Liong (Universiti Malaya, Genetics and Heredity), Nur Zakirah Jasni (University of Melbourne, Veterinary Science), and Nurfatima Azzahra Fadli (UKM, Biochemistry).
Meanwhile, the three Master's students are Fatini Nadiah Mohammad Zamzami (UKM, Biochemistry), Tiew Siew Jin (Universiti Putra Malaysia, Biotechnology), and Yugashini P. Muhilan (UKM, Biomedical Materials).
The BYDPA is regarded as the most prestigious scholarship offered by the Public Service Department.
Introduced in 2006, it is aimed at supporting outstanding Malaysian citizens who excel not only in academics, but also in co-curricular activities, community engagement, and the production of creative or innovative work.
As of 2025, a total of 20 scholarship cycles have been completed, with 225 Malaysians having received the BYDPA.
The scholarship supports studies in various fields including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); economics, law, Islamic finance, and artificial intelligence.
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