Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has roots dating back to 1931 when it was first established as the School of Agriculture. Despite a series of name changes over the years, it has maintained a focus on agriculture while also becoming a prominent research university.
Today, UPM is made up of 16 faculties, 16 centres, nine institutes, one school, and one academy. Within each faculty are a number of individual departments, spread across two campuses. The main campus, covering over 1,000 hectares of land, is situated in the town of Serdang with a branch campus, set within 700 hectares, is located in Bintulu, a coastal town in Borneo.
In total, around 24,000 students attend UPM including approximately 4,500 international students. Just over half of the student body is made up of undergraduates, with around 10,000 studying at postgraduate level. Each year, UPM accepts around 1,300 inbound exchange students, sending about the same to study overseas.
Campus life at UPM is extensive and there is much more to life at the university beyond the lecture theatre. There are 17 colleges for accommodation, a range of associations and clubs, including many arts and cultural clubs.
In terms of sport facilities, there is a gym, sports hall, outdoor swimming pool, a football pitch with under soil drainage, a multi-purpose Astroturf pitch, tennis courts, a floodlit athletics park, a football stadium and an 18-hole golf course.
Through the Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Agreement, UPM has a number of partnerships with universities around the globe. These links cover mobility programmes, staff and student exchanges, research collaborations, commercialised activities and technology transfer.
A number of joint degree programmes are offered in collaboration with other universities and UPM awards some PhDs in conjunction with the UK’s universities of Sheffield and Nottingham.
UPM’s motto is: ‘with knowledge we serve.’