21 May 2025 – Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), through the Institute of Bioscience (led by the UPM Microbial Culture Collection – UPM-MCC), today signed and exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM) to further strengthen collaboration in the field of microbial culture collections and databases.

UPM was represented by Professor Dr Zunita Zakaria, Director of IBS, accompanied by Professor Dr Ina Salwany Md Yasin and two Science Officers. WDCM was represented by Dr. Wei Qian, Director of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) and Dr. Juncai Ma, Director of WDCM.

Previously, UPM through IBS and WDCM had signed two MoUs with the first MoU  was from 30 September 2013 to 1 October 2018, and the second from 21 August 2019 to 22 August 2024. During these MoU periods, various collaborative initiatives were undertaken, including co-organisation of conferences and seminars, as well as opportunities for staff to attend overseas training. The renewal of this MoU for a third term is hoped to further strengthen the role of UPM-MCC as a reference centre and also as the National Depository Authority (NDA) in Malaysia.

The MoU signing and exchange took place at Lahan Hotel, Jeonju, South Korea in conjuction with  the 22nd Meeting of the Asian Consortium for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Microbial Resources (ACM22), organised by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (NAS), South Korea.

Date of Input: 21/05/2025 | Updated: 21/05/2025 | azah