Born in the twentieth century and growing in the twenty-first, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) continues to be committed to being contemporary and forward looking as a progressive institution of higher learning. Relatively young as a university, UNIMAS has already stamped its mark on many areas of research and academia since its establishment in 1992. UNIMAS was the first university to be initiated as part of “Wawasan 2020”, a national vision where Malaysia will achieve the status of a fully-industrialized and developed nation. Malaysia’s eighth and Sarawak first public university started with a modest intake of 118 students in two faculties, now UNIMAS has more than 10000 undergraduate and almost 950 postgraduate students spread across 8 faculties. Located on Sarawak in the island of Borneo, UNIMAS is ideally placed to fully benefit from the many opportunities for research literally in its backyard, with challenges of geography and geology as well as the diversity of biology and ethnicity. Through its ultra-modern campus, UNIMAS is making strong progress towards becoming a significant centre of higher learning and research in the academic world.