Profesor Madya Dr. Suraya Bte Sintang

Associate Professor Dr. Suraya Sintang is a long-standing faculty member at the Center for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language (PPIB), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), where she has served since 1999. Demonstrating strong academic leadership, she held the administrative position of Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs (2012) and co-ordinators of several clusters at PPIB such as TITAS, GPL, KI, PPLK. Her extensive academic background includes a PhD in the Dialogue of Civilization from Universiti Malaya, completed in 2012, followed by a Postdoctoral program in Religious Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2017. Dr. Suraya’s primary research interests focus on inter-religious relations and social cohesion within the diverse ethnic groups of Sabah, Malaysia. Over the years, she has 43 total grants with amount RM2,868,166.90 collaborated with numerous high-impact research projects and consultations funded by prominent bodies, including the Ministry of National Unity Malaysia, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), the ASEAN-IPR Women Programme, UM and UKM. An active scholar, she has published extensively in reputable, high-indexed journals such as SCOPUS; WoS, ERA, and MyCite, and has authored multiple no of book chapters on religious life and Sabah cultural studies. Under her supervision, three master's students have been awarded as the Best Student and the Best Thesis. Her profound contributions to academia and community service are highly recognized through various prestigious appointments and awards. On an international platform, she has been featured as an invited speaker at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore (2023) and Huangjiao University in Xiamen, China (2018). Locally, her expertise is frequently sought after by government bodies; she currently serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of IKLIN (Institut Kajian dan Latihan Integrasi Nasional) Kementerian Perpaduan Negara (2026-2028); Committee Member for the Evaluation of General Courses under MOHE (2024–2026), a Research Fellow at the Centre of Civilizational Dialogue, Universiti Malaya (2023–present), and a Committee Member for the Sabah State Unity Taskforce (PADUNEGERI) since 2021-present. Led consultation project on The Development of Social Cohesion Model in Sabah and Sarawak with amount RM497,999 awarded by Ministry of National Unity Malaysia. Additionally, she has served as an invited speaker for the Sociocultural Course at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya and as a panellist for various national unity programs. In recognition of her outstanding work, Dr. Suraya has received the UMS Excellence Service Award, the Consultant Award, and was named the Top External Research Grant Recipient in the Social Science Category (APUMS) in 2025.