A MOMENT I DID NOT EXPECT

On this day there was a meeting with all the Research Group leaders which I skipped it due to other factors. 

Not long after, I received a WhatsApp message from another RG leader. He sent me a photo and simply wrote, “idola dan sifu.” which means “idol and mentor”.

I looked at the image. It was a slide from the meeting. Somehow, I was ranked number 1 as the best researcher for Web of Science (WoS) indexed journal publications for 2025.

To be honest, I felt humbled more than anything. Especially when I saw that our mentor, who is the Chairman of the UTM Professors Council and also a Malaysia Top Scientist award recipient, was ranked number 3. He is someone I deeply respect.

I never really aimed for any number of WoS publications. The intention has always been simple. Just to share our work with the community and contribute where we can.

There are many indexing platforms out there such as ERA, Scopus and others. But in Malaysia, WoS is often seen as the most demanding and is widely used for university performance evaluation. Still, for me, as long as the research reaches people and is useful, that is already enough.

For the record, my 2025 year’s publications are not limited to WoS. I also contributed in Scopus and other platforms.

Grateful, but staying grounded. There is still much more to learn and do.

#ResearchJourney #WoS #AcademicLife #GeospatialResearch #KeepGoing