KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 42.1 per cent, or 702 of the 1,668 completed Fundamental Research Fund (DPF) projects in the 2023 financial year, did not meet their key performance indicators (KPIs), according to the Auditor-General’s Report 1/2025 tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today.
It said that as of Dec 31, 2023, out of 2,077 Fundamental Research Fund (DPF) projects being implemented by five research universities (RUs), only 236 projects, or 11.3 per cent, were assessed to be at a good level, while 571 projects (27.5 per cent) were in the satisfactory category.
In addition, 1,119 projects (53.9 per cent) were classified as unsatisfactory, while another 151 projects (7.3 per cent) were identified as problematic.
The five RUs implementing the DPF projects were Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
According to the audit analysis, USM recorded the highest number of projects with good progress at 206 projects (37 percent) worth RM31 million, while UKM had the most problematic projects, with 111 projects (16.5 percent) valued at RM13.24 million.
The report also revealed that the five RUs had a remaining balance of RM183.53 million for 3,569 DPF projects.
Of this amount, RM144.34 million was allocated for 1,789 ongoing projects, while RM39.19 million was the remaining balance for 1,780 completed projects.
The Auditor-General recommended that the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and RUs enhance regular monitoring of research project implementation to ensure they were implemented as planned and achieved their KPIs.
The report stated that MOHE should review applications from the Research Management Centre to assess the feasibility of research projects and prevent them from being abandoned or terminated.
It also recommended that a clear policy be established on the use of remaining allocations for completed research projects to ensure full utilisation of the funds.
