By: Marzieana Ab Rahman  (Assistant Registrar)

Article Date: November 25, 2025

SERDANG – The role of higher education institutions today is expanding, moving beyond the mere dissemination of knowledge. Universities now bear a greater responsibility: to shape competitive and entrepreneurial human capital, a generation capable of being job creators, rather than just job seekers. At Universiti Putra Malaysia , the agenda to foster an entrepreneurial culture among students is continuously strengthened. We aim to see more graduates who are bold in taking risks, innovative, and resilient in facing real-world challenges.

The success of cultivating this entrepreneurial mindset is exemplified by initiatives such as Foscorner at the Faculty of Science. Foscorner is not just a typical student-run shop; it is a practical incubator operating at the heart of the campus community. This commercial space provides a real-life platform where students can test and develop their business ideas, ranging from innovative food products to digital services, with low initial costs. More importantly, students are directly involved in daily operational experiences, including financial management, marketing, inventory control, and customer service. This is the real-world environment needed to hone soft skills such as resilience, negotiation, effective communication, and leadership.

To ensure this momentum continues and spreads across the campus, the Office of the Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs is strengthening its entrepreneurship empowerment strategy. The first step is curriculum integration, ensuring that entrepreneurial elements are comprehensively embedded in core subjects. Students are encouraged to transform academic assignments into viable business plans. This strategy is supported by a robust industry mentor partnership program, where connections with alumni entrepreneurs and industry leaders are cemented to guide students from the idea phase through to business scaling.

Furthermore, emphasis is placed on expanding support spaces by modeling after Foscorner. Every faculty is encouraged to establish flexible entrepreneurship zones. Concurrently, access to seed funding and simplified business registration (SSM) assistance will be facilitated to encourage wider participation. Finally, we will establish a fair recognition system, where active and successful student business activities will be acknowledged through a faculty/university awards system or university recognition certificates, in line with the Higher Education Institution Entrepreneurship Guidelines.

We call upon the entire campus community – students, lecturers, and staff – to view entrepreneurship not merely as an alternative career choice, but as a vital set of life skills. Let us seize the available opportunities, making the small successes at Foscorner a catalyst for creating bigger, more competitive entrepreneurs at the national and global levels.

Student Success Today Shapes the Economic Strength of the Nation Tomorrow.

Date of Input: 26/11/2025 | Updated: 26/11/2025 | nur_jasni