Associate Professor Dr. Hanizah Idris is an academic staff at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, currently serve as the Head of Department. She also had an experience in holding other administrative post at the faculty level and has been appointed as a Deputy Dean (undergraduate) from 2010-2014. Her area of research is on maritime development in Southeast Asia focusing on port and shipping as well as policy and governance of maritime sector in the region. Her area of research also covers other interesting area such as maritime tourism and sustainable development of the maritime sector. Dr. Hanizah has always been invited as a speaker in international conference and seminar and working closely with the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), a think tank for Malaysia's maritime industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Maritime Affairs), and port authorities in Malaysia. She has also contributed in sharing her expertise with government agencies on various issues related to maritime affairs in the region, including the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Maritime Division, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Department of Statistic, Malaysia, Institute of Strategic Studies (ISIS), Malaysia and with industries as well. Dr. Hanizah has involved in collaborations with foreign universities including Miami University, USA, Yonsei University, Korea, Soka University, Japan and Sindh University, Pakistan in terms of academic activities, students mobility programs and conferences. Her latest publications including a chapter in book titled "Realizing Blue Economy Potential in Malaysia, Opportunities and Challenges".(2023). Routledge, CRC Press, a book titled "Sustainable Maritime Tourism in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia". (2017). UM Press, a chapter in book titled "Social-Cultural Aspects of Maritime Malaysia'. (2021), MIMA publisher, and a book titled "Sustainable Port Development in Southeast Asia". (2023). DBP.  (forthcoming). 

Short biography Dr. Mohammad Ismath Ramzy is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Foundation & Humanities, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur. He has more than 10 year’s experience in teaching, research and Academic thesis supervision He is the Chair of Education for Humanism and Social Advancement Research Centre (EHSAn), Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, and he served as an Editor of the Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management (MOJEM-Scopus indexed)- (https://mojem.um.edu.my/) for more than four years. Dr Ramzy's background is in Intercultural and interreligious education. He obtained a Licentiate Certificate in Islamic studies from Jaamiah Nalemiah, Sri Lanka and completed undergraduate studies in Arabic linguistics at the Peradeniya University of Sri Lanka in 2001. He received a Master's in Comparative Religion from the International Islamic University Islamabad. He studied Shavism of Hinduism for his Master's thesis. Ramzy completed his PhD in Comparative Religion in 2012 at the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM), where he studied the legacy of Ven. Prof. Walpola Rahula Thera of Sri Lanka to peaceful coexistence. Upon completing his PhD, Ramzy joined the Universiti Malaya (UM) as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in October 2012 in the Center for Cilivizational Dialogue, University of Malaya (CCD-UM). He was promoted to Research Fellow in 2013 at the same place. In 2015, Dr. Ramzy joined the Faculty of Education, UM, based on the merits of his research and publications. He is actively involved in research on Intercultural Competence. He has published over 60 research articles in reputed academic review Journals including social science indexed journals in educating different level of people on intercultural studies and governing the cultural and religious diversity. In addition, he has written several chapters of books and contributed seven entries to the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions (Springer Publication). He also co-authored a book published by UM Press in 2023.  Dr Ramzy supervises more than 26 PhD and 12 Master thesis and have evaluated more than 36 MA and PhD Thesis. Further he served as editor of Scopus indexed journal and reviewer of social science and other indexed journals. Dr. Ramzy has been awarded seven international honours for research and coordination and received a Southeast Asia Fellowship from The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition, he was recently bestowed a 'Senior Fellowship' at the Global Peace Institute in the U.K. Dr Ramzy served as visiting scholar in Prince Songkla Unviersity (PSU), Patttani from 24 April to 05th of May 2023 and the Research Scholarship Centre, King Khalid Unviersity (KKU), Abha, Saudi Arabia from 14-27 February 2024. He has been invited as a keynote speaker in many international seminars and conferences and has participated as a guest speaker at many international forums, including Britain, Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. He has presented research papers at various international conferences, including Australia, the U.K., South Korea, Qatar, Turkey, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. In addition, Dr. Ramzy has conducted more than seven international webinars on research. Dr. Ramzy is not only a researcher but also a peace activist. He is involved in Organizing interfaith initiatives in Malaysia and Sri Lanka and has also participated in programs conducted by the UNESCO Activity Club and various youth interfaith programs. He actively involves in Muslim-Buddhist dialogue and coexistence. He can be reached at ismathramzy@gmail.com.  

Dr. Jamilah Syafawati Yaacob completed her B.Sc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology & Biotechnology) from University of Melbourne, Australia in 2007, and her M.Sc (Crop Biotechnology) from University of Nottingham (Malaysia campus) in 2009. She received her PhD in Biotechnology from University of Malaya in 2013 and was one of the recipients of the University of Malaya Excellence Awards in 2014 for completing her PhD in less than 4 years. In 2010, during her PhD candidature, she had also won a Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Biosciences & Biotechnology during University of Malaya Innovation and Creativity Expo. After successfully completing her PhD, she then joined the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. Since then, she has taught and coordinated various undergraduate courses such as Biology of Organisms, Genetic Engineering in Animals and Plants, Cell and Tissue Culture and Higher Plant Physiology. At the postgraduate level, she has also helped in teaching Research Methodology, a compulsory course upon entry into postgraduate studies at the department. Since her employment as an Academic, she has served the department and University in various administrative duties, such as the programme coordinator for Bachelor of Science with Education (ISB), BSc in Biotechnology, academic advisor, final year project coordinator and many more. Her current research interest is on manipulation of plant tissue culture system for biotechnological applications, with special emphasis on stress-induced plant secondary metabolites and proteins for medicinal applications and sustainable production of functional food colorants. Her present research works include projects on understanding and manipulating plant’s response towards abiotic stress for over-expression of valuable bioactive compounds, such as in Azadirachta indica (neem). The regulation of proteins involved in the biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites are analyzed through proteomics-based approach, to allow for a better understanding of the biosynthesis pathways that has been affected. In addition to that, she is also working on the epigenetics aspect of plant phenotypic plasticity, to understand the epigenetic regulation (with focus on histone modification) in DNA repair and somaclonal variation. In recognition of her work and scientific achievements, she has won several awards such as a Gold Medal at International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) in 2013 and a Bronze Medal at Bioinnovation Awards/BioMalaysia & Bioeconomy Asia Pacific 2013. Other than that, she is also actively participating in the scientific community and the public by taking on various roles as a judge or jury in scientific competitions and innovation programs at national and secondary school levels. These include her role as a judge for Malaysian Agricultural Invention Show (MAgIS) competition organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in 2016, and judge for science videos and scientific poem recitation competitions organized by Ministry of Education in 2017-2018, among others. Professionally, she was also one of the representatives in the working group for pineapple planting material for preparation of Malaysian Standard (organized by SIRIM Malaysia) in 2018. Outside of work and research, she also loves to join various events that promote sustainability and green environment.