The Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM) is preparing to host the 2026 Network of International Business and Economics Schools (NIBES) Research Forum. The appointment as the 2026 host was secured during the 29th Annual Meeting of the Network of International Business and Economics Schools (NIBES), held from Jul. 2-4, 2025, at Yuan Ze University, Taiwan.
“During the meeting, FEB UGM was entrusted to host the NIBES Research Forum in the second semester of 2026,” said Dr. Arizona Mustikarini, Head of the Global Relations and Mobility Office (GREAT) at FEB UGM, on Friday, Jul. 25, 2025.
Dr. Mustikarini, who participated in the 2025 NIBES Research Forum in Taiwan, explained that the upcoming 2026 forum would serve as a strategic collaborative platform for researchers from the 21 member universities of NIBES.
Scheduled for March 2026, the event is expected to bring together scholars from various countries.
“We hope that they will engage in discussions on strategic issues such as sustainability, digital transformation, and the advancement of global economics and business education,” she explained.
Regarding the NIBES Research Forum in Taiwan, she noted that 16 out of the 21 NIBES member universities attended and reached several strategic agreements.
The forum also marked the official launch of the NIBES LinkedIn account, aimed at enhancing inter-institutional communication and information dissemination.
Yuan Ze University, meanwhile, offered a joint supervision program for the doctoral candidates, supported by scholarships from the Taiwanese government.
Representing FEB UGM, Dr. Mustikarini used the forum to explore potential new collaborations in education and research with various strategic partners.
These included Blinket University, Turkiye; Caucasus University, Georgia; Clermont; ESAN, Peru; ESCA, Morocco; ICHEC, Brussels; ISCTE, Portugal; Krakow University; Orebro University, Sweden; Pforzheim, Germany; Yuan Ze University, Taiwan; and the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
“During the forum, Dr. Sophie Peters from ICHEC Brussels was elected as the new Secretary-General of NIBES,” she added.
Reporter: FEB UGM/Kurnia Ekaptiningrum
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna