History

Established in 1985, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) is Brunei Darussalam’s oldest higher education institution. The university is committed to nurturing holistic, globally-minded graduates through innovative, technology-enabled education and research. Guided by Brunei Darussalam’s national aspirations and the principles of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB), UBD is committed to developing ethical leaders who can contribute meaningfully and sustainably to society.

Over the past decades, UBD has evolved from a primarily teaching-focused institution into a research-intensive university. Today, it advances strengths across fields such as biodiversity and environmental research, energy transition, health and bio-innovation (encompassing precision medicine, genomics, and halal science), and digital futures, including data analytics and Artificial Intelligence. Sustainability is an increasingly central, cross-cutting priority at UBD, embedded across research, education, operations and engagement, and advanced through the university’s Sustainability Masterplan and Sustainability Action Plan. Alongside these areas, UBD has established expertise in Islamic history, governance and civilisation. UBD’s international standing continues to strengthen, as one of the highly-ranked universities in the Southeast Asia region according to the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

UBD’s main campus serves as the university’s academic and residential hub, and is situated close to the coastline at Tungku Link in the Brunei-Muara district. The campus is also home to the UBD Botanical Research Centre, a six-hectare site within a tropical lowland heath forest locally known as Kerangas – supporting applied research, learning, and community engagement.

A defining strength of UBD is its focus on developing future-ready undergraduates. From 2026, the University has introduced the GenBESTARI curriculum, an education framework that promotes active, student-centred and technology-enabled learning, with sustainability embedded across teaching and learning. This builds on UBD’s signature experiential component the Discovery Year programme, which was introduced in 2011. Through this programme, students may spend up to six months in study abroad, internships, incubation projects, or community outreach, ensuring the integration of real-world, design-oriented learning into every degree.