Postgraduate Application Guide

For prospective MSc by Research and PhD candidates considering supervision under my direction at FTSM, UKM.

Thank you for your interest in pursuing postgraduate research with me. This guide exists to help you decide whether we are a good research fit before we both invest time in an application process.

Before you write to me

Please read at least three of my recent first-author publications. Your proposal should connect to themes in my actual work — not just a research area title.

What I'm looking for

• Technical foundation. Comfort with calculus, linear algebra, probability, and at least one of: PyTorch/TensorFlow, evolutionary computing toolkits, or simulation environments.
• Research curiosity over credential collection. Strong applicants articulate a problem they find genuinely interesting and have begun reading around it.
• Communication discipline. Postgraduate research is largely a writing exercise. Concise, structured initial emails predict thesis quality.

Research areas I currently supervise in

• Generative AI for domain-specific reasoning — combining LLMs with structured knowledge.
• Evolutionary neural architecture search — multi-objective AutoML.
• Procedural content generation in games — AI-driven generation of levels, quests, narratives.
• Agent-based simulation — applied to education, public health, sustainability.
• Hybrid metaheuristics for combinatorial optimization — scheduling, routing, allocation.

What to send in your initial email

• Two-paragraph introduction citing at least one of my papers by title.
• Degree level (PhD / MSc by Research) and intended start semester.
• Funding situation (self-funded, seeking scholarship, secured).
• One-page research proposal (PDF) with problem statement, brief literature context, and proposed approach.
• CV (PDF) with transcripts and English proficiency evidence.

What happens next

I respond within roughly 10 working days during teaching semesters. My response is one of: (1) Let's discuss further, (2) Not the right fit, but try X, or (3) Promising but at capacity right now.

Final thought

A doctorate is several years of your life. The single most important factor in whether those years are productive — beyond funding, beyond institution prestige — is whether you and your supervisor are working on a question you both genuinely care about. Take the time to find that match.

Ready to apply? Email me at akmal@ukm.edu.my.