Kick starting collaboration with Indonesia

Eating tempeh, a fermented soybean cake, could reduce the risk of developing dementia. I learnt this and other interesting facts at the UK-Indonesia Science and Innovation Conference in Jakarta last week. In addition to changing my own diet, this event provided a valuable guide to future directions for UK-Indonesia research collaboration, served to clarify the rationale for engagement with Indonesia, and underlined some of the challenges.

The British Council-organised conference brought together 20 UK universities – plus another ten on a separate Scottish Universities mission – with 40-plus Indonesian researchers from across the archipelago. Relatively little time was spent on presentations, with far more time spent in groups in intensive discussions to develop collaborative project proposals addressing the four societal challenges of health, food, environment and energy.

In health, the group developed projects in two broad areas; infectious diseases – particularly diagnostics for TB and a novel treatment for malaria – and healthy aging. Both areas benefit from existing relationships. Jakarta’s Eijkman Institute is carrying out a clinical trial on preventing malaria in pregnancy, together with the Liverpool School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The project is funded by DfID, MRC and the Wellcome Trust. The dynamic director of the University of Indonesia’s Center for Aging Studies, is a fellow at Oxford and has worked for many years with researchers there and at Loughborough.

In other areas we were breaking new ground. Energy projects involving are likely to focus on developing the optimal renewable energy type for Indonesia’s diverse environments, from islands to mountains. Directions for food research were planned to include improving the efficiency of food production, improving food processing, and enhancing food safety. The attribute Indonesia has in abundance is biodiversity, and projects in the environment theme focused on protecting this; transforming degraded land like former mines, developing energy efficient buildings, and managing the growth of air travel and airports.

This has been our second visit to Indonesia in recent months, and reflects our increasing engagement on science and innovation with the country. Indonesia is increasingly recognising the importance of innovation to preserve the high rates of growth the country has experienced over recent years.

For UK universities, Indonesia is a high priority market. The recently-published UK Education Industrial Strategy singles out the country as an important target, and the presence of so many universities last week demonstrates the level of interest. This goes beyond student recruitment. The universities I spoke with were interested in a full spectrum of engagement, from research collaboration to recruiting undergrads, acknowledging that each activity often supports the other. It is also notable that with increasing numbers of UK universities establishing themselves in Singapore and Malaysia, the opportunity for engagement with Indonesia from those centres increases.

Establishing the UK as a preferred partner for Indonesian researchers will required increased engagement and visibility, and a long term commitment. The challenge with our work is that it takes time to build familiarity and trust, on an individual, organisational and national level. The collaborations discussed at the conference are the next step on this journey.