CURTIN University has found itself at the centre of a growing grassroots controversy following the awarding of an honorary doctorate to the the wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Rosmah Mansor, who is considered a divisive figure by many Malaysians, was awarded her honorary degree for services to childhood education in Perth on February 11.

Since then a mushrooming online social media campaign has condemned the decision to award the degree and demanded the university revoke it.

At least 3770 people have signed up to a Facebook page called "Boycott Curtin University till Rosmah Mansor's Doctorate Revoked". Curtin has been forced to close its own Facebook page on occasions and withdraw dozens of comments it says are potentially defamatory or in breach of the commonwealth criminal code.

An organiser of the campaign, Soon Yee Yap, said it was just the beginning. "The social media responses are just a way of crowd sourcing, alerting folks and raising awareness of a deeper issue," he said. "We believe there are two major issues: criteria, justification and repercussion on the institution's image for the award, even though it is just an honorary one. The other being the basis for her selection."

While honorary doctorates are used increasingly as marketing tools, Australia is not without its share of controversies. In 2007, Australian National University hit the headlines when former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was handed an honorary doctorate in law.

When the University of Queensland gave then premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen an honorary doctorate in political science in 1986, a riot broke out at the graduation ceremony.

Ravinder Sidhu, a post-doctoral fellow at UQ with research interests in transnational education and governance, said universities would be increasingly confronted by situations such as that facing Curtin.

"The question is just how far should a university go to secure approval and monetary rewards from those in power," she said.

"At the very least, this would suggest that all universities need to be more transparent about the criteria they use."

The university declined a request for an interview.