Dr Bagus Muljadi, Assistant Professor in Chemical & Environmental Engineering has recently established a unique partnership between the University of Nottingham and the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education in Indonesia.

Recently invited by the Indonesian government to contribute to the provision of new public policies in higher education, as part of the World Class Scholars Symposium in Jakarta, Bagus’s commitment to establish a model where government funded PhD students are jointly-supervised by both UK and Indonesian-based scholars has been praised as a pioneering partnership with Indonesian interest and values in heart.

An Indonesian national, he also sees a key part of his role at the University of Nottingham in bridging the two countries together – an outlook captured in recent interviews with the Jakarta Post and national press.

Emphasising the importance of his role as a diaspora academic in the UK, Dr Muljadi said: “Knowledge exchange (KE) is key to Indonesia’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. Diaspora academics must exploit their position abroad, and act as agents that catalyse transfers of knowledge into the country. The University of Nottingham is a proud partner of the Indonesian government in providing training and scholarships for the country’s future scientists, engineers, and lecturers. ”

With the University’s support, in particular CPD Services, Dr Muljadi is leading a wide range of collaborative programmes with the Indonesian government and universities. One of the priorities is to establish an Indonesia Doctoral Training Partnership (IDTP) at the University of Nottingham, bringing together the government’s desire to develop its research base and the University’s global reputation for research and impact.

The defining principle driving the creation of the Indonesian Doctoral Training Partnership (IDTP) is a shared vision and commitment with the Indonesian government to foster a new generation of champions to tackle world challenges. IDTP will provide Indonesian scholars with the technical and theoretical competences to equip them for a leading career in academia. IDTP offers an opportunity for Indonesian PhD scholars to undertake integrated training focusing on identified priority areas which will help them to develop the research and transferable skills they need. Initially the IDTP will focus upon areas including but not limited to: engineering, health, food security and energy security. It is expected that IDTP scholars will also initiatiate and lead UK-Indonesia research collaborations through significant commitment from all levels at the University of Nottingham.