Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) welcomed the Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia delegation on Monday, 20 February 2023. This honorary visit was part of a series of tours for the delegation to several cities in Indonesia including Jakarta, Bandung and the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The delegation was led by Dr. Abdulrahman Ali M. Alamri, Assistant Deputy Minister for International Cooperation, totaling 7 people consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several representatives of universities in Saudi Arabia.
In the Courtesy Meeting, UGM was represented by the Director of Partnerships, Alumni and Global Initiatives, Dr. Puji Astuti, S.Si., M.Sc., Apt. together with the Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service, Partnership and Alumni, Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB), Deputy Dean for Alumni, Partnership and Innovation, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service and Partnership, Faculty of Engineering (FT), Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M. Hum. from FIB and Dr. Ririn Tri Nurhayati, S.IP., M.Sc., M.A., the Head of Research Program Subdirectorate.
Dr. Alamri said in the meeting that the main purpose of the visit was to open opportunities for partnership between universities in Indonesia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where the Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia would be the facilitator. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a target in the global ranking where in 2023 there are at least 5 Saudi Arabian universities in the top 100 positions in the QS Ranking and 1 university in the top 5 positions. He also explained that in order to achieve this target, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia opened many doors to opportunities for partnership in education, research, and scholarship opportunities for all scientific fields with universities in Indonesia, including UGM.
Responding to the explanation from Dr. Alamri, Dr. Puji Astuti said that UGM was happy to welcome the offer of educational collaboration from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and there are many opportunities available for collaboration that can be explored. Dr. Puji also said that partnership between UGM and Saudi Arabian university needs to be improved considering that not many results of collaboration at the university level have been recorded. Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service, Partnership and Alumni, FIB, Mimi Savitri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. added that FIB is also intensively encouraging their students to actively participate in student exchange programs, and the opportunity offered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a good opportunity to increase the number of student mobility. Besides that, Dr. Mimi also conveyed FIB’s desire to find partners in joint writing of articles/publications for Scopus.
Ir. Ali Awaludin, S.T., M.Eng., Ph.D., IPU., ACPE., Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service, and Partnership, FT, said that for FT the possibility of cooperation that could be explored is a professor exchange program . Discussions for the double degree for master and doctoral programs are also deemed necessary in the study of the possibility of partnership between Saudi Arabia and UGM. Dr. Fajar Adi Kusumo, S.Sc., M.Sc., Deputy Dean for Alumni, Partnership and Innovation, said that FMIPA had a great opportunity to collaborate in the field of cybersecurity and computer sciences considering that Saudi Arabia was ranked 2nd for their commitment to cybersecurity globally in 2021.
In closing the discussion, Dr. Alamri also said that partnership between the two parties did not need to wait for the MoU signing. UGM can start the partnership from activities such as professor exchanges and visiting lecturers as initiators. The collaborative discussion between UGM and the Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia ended with a souvenir exchange and group photos as well as a strong commitment from both parties to create productive and profitable cooperation for both parties. [Sepitri]
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