UGM Chancellor welcomed the visit of Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima on Wednesday (11/3) at the UGM Senate Hall. Both of them visited UGM in a series of royal visits accompanied by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephanus Abraham Blok, and the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Ambassador Swartbol.
"The Netherlands is more than just a friend for Indonesia. We feel very honored to be able to host a historic visit from the King and Queen of the Netherlands at our university," said the UGM Chancellor, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng, D.Eng, IPU.
He explained, the collaboration between UGM and the Netherlands itself has been going on for a long time and has shown many satisfying results. On this occasion, several researchers from UGM had the opportunity to present the research they were doing in strategic fields, such as health, biodiversity, and law.
A lecturer at the Faculty of Biology UGM, Dr. Endang Semiarti, M.S., M.Sc., invited Queen Maxima to mate the Indonesian orchid species, which was later named Vanda Tricolor Lindley Queen Maxima to mark the Dutch participation and support for the preservation of biodiversity in Indonesia.
In addition, Raja Willem and Ratu Maxima also witnessed an exhibition of UGM academic community innovations at the University Hall, a program of the UGM Directorate of Business Development and Incubation (PUI).
"We show some innovations from our students and lecturers. We believe this innovation will be a good entry point for our collaboration in the future," said the Chancellor.
This visit marks a new phase of collaboration between UGM and Netherland institutions in the future. A representative from the Dutch Universities Association, Prof. Wim van den Doel, explained three collaborative plans, one of which is the Week for Indonesian-Netherlands Education and Research (WINNER) 2020 program between the institution and LIPI.
"I invite all of you to join this program. This is an excellent activity," explained van den Doel.
Besides, he also announced the formation of the Boscha Medal, which is an appreciation of Indonesian and Dutch scientists who made significant contributions to the development of science and relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands. He asked UGM to be able to nominate eligible candidates to receive the award through the Dutch Embassy to Indonesia.
To encourage scientific cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands, the governments of the two countries also launched a research grant program worth 3 million Euros. This grant provides an opportunity for Indonesian and Dutch researchers to collaborate in research with joint funding from the two countries.
The beating of gongs symbolically marked the launch of this grant by Retno Marsudi accompanied by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs and PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono.
"Registration of this grant has begun next week, so please start preparing the proposal. We expect interdisciplinary research proposals, and this will be a joint effort to create steps in the future," said Dr. Sebastiaan den Bak from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
Author: Gloria
Photo: Firsto
Translator: Natasa A