UGM participated in an education exhibition titled GO GLOBAL UTokyo Study Abroad Fair 2024, held at the Komaba Communication Plaza in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday (May 12).
UGM’s presence at this international exhibition was in response to an invitation from the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), one of UGM’s strategic partners in Japan, which has the Go Global Gateway program encouraging its students to develop global capabilities and competencies to collaborate with anyone worldwide.
Professor Gandes Retno Rahayu, the Director of Education and Teaching at UGM, mentioned that there is substantial financial support for UTokyo students to participate in study programs abroad.
She noted that this activity presents an excellent opportunity for UGM to promote its degree and non-degree study programs to boost the achievement of IKU 6, which is partnerships in study programs.
“Of course, the ultimate goal is to increase the number of international students studying at UGM,” he expressed while guiding the UGM team attending the event.
UTokyo students who visited UGM’s booth displayed diverse knowledge about UGM. Some had been to Indonesia and knew a bit about UGM.
Several had even visited Indonesia for vacation, although they hadn’t heard about UGM. However, most had never had international experiences, including visiting Indonesia, and only learned about UGM through the GO GLOBAL Fair.
Sari Wulandari, a member of the UGM team involved in the exhibition, mentioned that some of the exhibition visitors were first-year undergraduate students. There were also second-year undergraduate students and some first-year postgraduate students.
She mentioned that the visitors seemed enthusiastic about studying at UGM. Therefore, many opted to take Indonesian language classes for university studies.
“Dozens of students who visited the UGM booth were willing to provide their personal data and study interests at UGM. The booth visitors were interested in participating in student exchange programs for 1-2 semesters, including the possibility of double degree programs, short courses, KKN programs for international students, summer courses, and internships, with study interests in various fields,” said Sari Wulandari.
She explained that UTokyo students were interested in studying environmental geography, science, engineering, and biology in the science and technology cluster.
Meanwhile, the students leaned toward international relations, management, development economics, cultural studies, law, and psychology in the social sciences and humanities cluster.
“UTokyo students were also interested in studying in several fields within the agronomy cluster, such as animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, as well as pharmaceutical studies in the health sciences cluster,” she clarified.
Rei Fujihara, a first-year undergraduate student who visited the UGM booth, expressed his interest in studying at UGM related to environmental issues.
Meanwhile, Lisa Hirawata, a new undergraduate student, shared her plan to advance her studies in Indonesian language and culture. She also wished to learn about Indonesian farming and fauna.
On a slightly different note, Ryoto Miyamoto stated that, apart from arts and culture, he intended to study development economics at UGM because he was interested in contributing to SDG activities.
Toma, a first-year postgraduate student who had previously participated in an exchange program with another university in Indonesia, shared his interest in pursuing a double degree in management at the UGM Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM). He repeatedly sought reassurance about UGM and said he would pursue funding from UTokyo if possible.
During this exhibition, representatives from the UGM Directorate of Education and Teaching and Directorate of Partnerships and Global Relations had the opportunity to discuss with UTokyo’s Vice President Director of the Center for Global Education, Professor Yujin Yaguchi, who initiated the GO GLOBAL UTokyo Study Abroad Fair.
In his presentation, Professor Yaguchi briefly encouraged participating students to broaden their horizons to neighboring countries of Japan when studying abroad. Their orientation should be towards more than just learning in the US, Canada, and Europe.
He conveyed that as students who would eventually hold broad leadership positions in Japan, the experience of Japanese students studying in neighboring countries was essential. This includes studying at UGM in Indonesia, which has closer geographical and geopolitical-economic ties.
“This will significantly impact every decision-making process of Japanese students to contribute to their country,” he explained.
In this event, 21 booths participated, including UGM, in enlivening the GO GLOBAL UTokyo Study Abroad Fair 2024, which consisted of 13 booths from UTokyo’s partner institutions and eight booths from internal University of Tokyo entities.
Source: Sari Wulandari
Editor: B. Diah Listianingsih