Starting from the initiation of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Washington, DC, United States of America, the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Universitas Gadjah Mada succeeded in entering into a cooperation agreement with two reputable universities in the United States, Purdue University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, the Indonesian Embassy’s Education and Culture Attache (Atdikbud) held the 29th Series of Bincang Karya Webinar (BIANKA) to discuss Nuclear Engineering and Chemical Engineering Study Program in the United States. The webinar was held to increase cooperation in research, education, and scholarships for study in the United States.
In the webinar, representatives of each university and Indonesian students from the respective department were presented. From Purdue University, represented by Dr. Seungjin Kim, head of the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue, and Muhammad Rizki Oktavian, S.T., M.S.E, an Indonesian student currently pursuing a doctoral program at the department. For the record, Rizki is also a lecturer at the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics (DTNTF), Universitas Gadjah Mada. From UIUC, represented by Dr. Rizwan Uddin, head of the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at UIUC, and Harun Ardiansyah, S.T., M.S., an Indonesian student currently pursuing a doctoral program at the department. In addition, representatives from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) and the University of Houston were also present. The webinar was moderated by Dr. Alexander Agung, Head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
After the webinar, Dr. Alexander Agung followed up with Purdue and UIUC to sign the Letter of Intent. In the agreement, the parties involved agreed to promote international cooperation in the field of research and education. Specifically, the parties to the agreement will encourage the following activities to promote international academic cooperation:
- Exchange of faculty and research scholars
- Exchange of students
- Collaborative Research and Discovery, Learning and Teaching, and Engagement
- Technical Assistance
- Other mutually-agreed educational or research programs
It is hoped that the signing of the Letter of Intent for this collaboration will be the beginning of an educational and research collaboration between DTNTF UGM with Purdue and UIUC. Hopefully, with this collaboration, we can continue to advance the quality of education and research in Indonesia.
