Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Leiden University, the Netherlands, discussed the progress of their ongoing academic partnership and opportunities to expand future collaboration during a meeting at UGM on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The meeting served as a forum for both universities to exchange updates on existing faculty-level and university-wide partnerships and consider ways to broaden academic engagement.
Representing Leiden University were Mr. Marrik Bellen, Director of the Office of Leiden University in Indonesia; Ms. Zweta Manggarani, Deputy Director and Academic Coordinator; Ms. Risa Nihayah, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Academic Coordinator; and Mr. Afwan Afwandi, Academic and Education Support Officer. On UGM’s side, the meeting was attended by Mr. Tyas Ikhsan Hikmawan, S.Si., M.S., Ph.D., Head of UGM’s Office of International Affairs, along with other representatives from the office.
Student mobility remained one of the key areas of discussion, particularly the possibility of increasing the number of exchange opportunities available to students. The two universities discussed their ongoing joint PhD programmes involving UGM’s Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Biology, and Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing (FKKMK). Further opportunities for academic collaboration were also considered, including joint supervision arrangements and the possibility of introducing a multidisciplinary joint minor for undergraduate students within the INUCoST framework
Beyond student and academic mobility, discussions extended to ways of connecting university research with industry. Mr. Tyas highlighted the potential for benchmarking initiatives to support research downstreaming and encourage the development of research-based products for industrial applications.
“We see benchmarking as an opportunity to learn how research outcomes can be further developed into products and brought into industry. This is one of the areas we are interested in pursuing with and learning from Leiden University,” he stated.
Mr. Marrik Bellen welcomed the opportunity to further strengthen the partnership between Leiden University and UGM. He noted that the existing Leiden-UGM Twin Laboratory (often called the Twin-Lab) could be one way to start realizing the university-to-industry initiatives.
“The Twin-Lab could provide a space for researchers from both universities to work together in exchange of knowledge and developing collaborative research initiatives, including expanding the impact of the joint research in the form of triple helix collaboration (university-industry-government),” he said.
The meeting also served as part of the preparations for the upcoming visit of Leiden University President Prof. Luc Sels to UGM in January 2027. The visit is expected to provide an opportunity for both universities to further discuss their partnership and identify areas for continued cooperation.
Through ongoing academic exchange and closer research engagement, UGM and Leiden University aim to build on their established relationship and create further opportunities for students, researchers, and academic communities at both institutions.
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