Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) continues to build networks with international universities to enhance the quality of education.
The University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM), headquartered in the UK, visited UGM on Wednesday (Aug. 28) to discuss plans for collaboration. Several representatives from UNM and various UGM faculty attended the meeting.
UNM Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, Professor Mohd Shahir Liew, stated that initiating cooperation between UGM and UNM is expected to be the first step in fostering innovation and knowledge exchange.
“We see UGM as one of the leading universities in Indonesia. We hope to collaborate, particularly in merging programs between faculties, research, and student exchanges,” he said.
He further explained that UNM aims to align and adjust the vision and mission of both universities. As a branch of the University of Nottingham UK, UNM has two faculties consisting of 18 vocational schools and departments: the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
These faculties aim to collaborate with UGM.
“This initiative is part of UNM’s educational development process through knowledge exchange between students and lecturers,” he elaborated.
Echoing Professor Liew’s statement, Professor Law Chung Lim, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at UNM, expressed his hopes for collaboration with UGM.
“We greatly hope to collaborate through student exchanges, such as summer courses, seminars, workshops, and other activities to enrich students’ experiences,” he said.
The proposed collaboration comprises seven programs: faculty exchange, research collaboration to enhance STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) competencies, keynote speeches at international conferences, joint publications, doctoral supervision, research grants, and student exchange.
Moreover, the partnership is expected to further the mission of community empowerment in both countries.
UGM warmly welcomed this cooperation initiative. UGM has previously established a collaboration agreement with the University of Nottingham, UK, which will continue until 2029.
Professor Puji Astuti, Director of Partnerships and Global Relations at UGM, responded to UNM’s collaboration offer.
“I am pleased with this collaboration offer, especially since we already have several ongoing programs. UGM is currently focusing on programs aimed at advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” she said.
UGM fully supports partnerships that offer students the opportunity to study abroad. So far, UGM has provided numerous scholarship and non-scholarship programs for student and faculty exchanges.
International students at UGM can apply through several pathways, including those offering scholarships and accommodation support. Professor Astuti highlighted the many aspects that must be discussed for the student exchange program.
In addition, Professor Astuti mentioned the potential for faculty exchange collaboration with UNM.
“We could also collaborate on faculty exchanges. We often invite foreign lecturers to teach classes, creating collaborative courses,” she explained.
Dean of UGM Vocational College (SV UGM), Professor Agus Maryono, emphasized that the cooperation will address current global challenges.
“Each project must offer solutions to the problems it aims to solve and must be relevant to the issues we face today,” said Professor Maryono.
Author: Tasya
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Afif