SHAH ALAM, May 8 — Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has brought pride to the country after securing second place in the International Microbiology Quiz Competition (iMicrobe) 2026, held at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Nilai on April 25.
The prestigious competition brought together 28 elite teams from leading universities locally and abroad, including institutions from Indonesia such as Universitas Sumatera Utara, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya and Universitas Diponegoro Semarang.
Other participating local universities included Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
The UPM team, comprising Chin Min Le, Ryan Koh Jia Xian, Kayalvili Agilen and Nitesh Nair Kumar, demonstrated strong academic mastery, rapid clinical reasoning skills and composure throughout the multi-stage competition.
The competition began with the Group Explore Race round, followed by the OMR stage, which tested participants through a combination of 25 multiple true/false questions and 30 single best answer questions (SBAQ).
Despite intense competition, the UPM team maintained consistent performance, finishing ninth overall in the preliminary stage to advance to the next round.
Their momentum continued in the Olympic Duel round, where they defeated Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) of Indonesia, securing a place in the Final Viva Round.
In a landmark achievement, UPM emerged as the only Malaysian team to break into the top three before finishing as overall runners-up on the international stage.
The achievement is significant as the top three positions have traditionally been dominated by teams from Singapore and Indonesia.
Team leader Chin Min Le described the success as the result of dedication, discipline and strong teamwork.
“This achievement reflects months of preparation, mental resilience and strong team synergy. We are proud to represent UPM and Malaysia internationally and compete with the world’s best teams,” she said.
The team was guided academically by Dr Azmiza Syawani from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM.
