UGM Jalin Kolaborasi Riset Antar Peguruan Tinggi untuk Indonesia
UGM Jalin Kolaborasi Riset Antar Peguruan Tinggi untuk Indonesia
Globalisation era brought more complex challenges to Indonesia such as environmental damage, social gap, depleting energy supplies, limited job opportunities, and economic problems. These have to be addressed by academics who are at the forefront of state intellectuality.
Intellectual work is needed to generate innovative products that can address those problems. This can be done by collaborative research projects of multi-disciplinary areas to accommodate the rapid development in science and technology.
According to Prof. Dr. Suprijadi, M.Eng., mathematics and natural sciences professor from ITB, universities had started collaborative research since two years ago. This has now turned into Indonesian Collaborative Research Programme (PPKI) and Indonesian Collaborative Research (RKI). They cover many disciplines such as agro-related disciplines, medical, science-tech, and socio-humanities.
“Currently, there are 43 research groups being formed in this project. The goal of this grouping is to make the topic observable from various aspects.The product of the collaboration is first, for science, second for works that are needed by society,” said the professor.
Meanwhile, drg.Ika Dewi Anna, M.Kes., Ph.D., UGM Vice-Rector of Research and Community Service, said for UGM the collaboration is a duty mandated to the university since its establishment. The aim is to make real contributions to society and science.
Ika said the main thing to assess the success of a university is its ability to resolve national problems by its research outcomes.
“This notion has encouraged UGM to continue making products to make the Indonesian people more advanced and prosperous,” she said.
Prof. Ainun Na’im, Ph.D., M.B.A., Secretary in Research and Technology Ministry/National Innovation Research Agency, welcomed the initiative for collaboration, saying this is in line with the laws issued by the government currently.
Ainun said the Ministry had produced regulations to build the ecosystem for the national research and innovation. The priority is to build research integration nationally in a bid to trigger innovation, which is still low compared to that of other countries.
The integration, said Ainun, also involved private corporations or industry, because despite university capacity to make innovation, they do not have experts when it comes to product commercialisation. Ainun said the integration would impact on not just the university but also national economy transformation to be more independent. It would also improve innovation ecosystem that can increase our competitiveness in the world. “So, we can get closer to our dream of making Indonesia prosperous,” he said.