BY LIZAWATI MADFA
SHAH ALAM, SEP 29: Six lecturers and two post-graduate students from the Selangor University (UNISEL) participated in the Royal Belum Forest Expedition to complete the COSMOS-SATREPS project.
Expedition Head, Prof. Dr. Mohd Kushairi Mohd Rajuddin said COSMOS-SATREPS is an international research project involving the cooperation of several institutes of higher learning and universities in Japan.
He said each institution received funds which are used to conduct research in specific area that benefits the local and global communities.
“We chose the oldest tropical forest in the world as we want to study its soil samples estimated to be over 130 years old.
“We took the soil samples for chemical analysis and to study their potential as additional substances in microalgae media formulation.
“We are also looking for new micro-organisms that may be found in the samples for microbiome research and its potential in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields,” he said as reported by its Corporate Communications Director, Hasril Abu Hassan.
Mohd Kushairi said it is a first project and everyone involved are young lecturers from the Faculty of Engineering and Life Sciences as well as post-graduate students taking Doctor of Philosophy course in the field of science.
“Young scientists should be given the opportunity to join research programmes so they can gain experience besides continuing this legacy in the future,” he said.
UNISEL examines pharmaceutical potential in Royal Belum soil samples
