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UK-Indonesian partnerships agreed

The Government has announced a string of partnerships between the UK and Indonesian universities to promote knowledge and skill sharing across the countries.

Nine new long-term agreements have been made between higher education institutions after the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the UK this week.

Student mobility between the countries will be promoted through eight university partnerships and a UK-Indonesian PhD scholarship programme for up to 150 students.

The Minister for University and Science, David Willetts secured the deal with Indonesia’s Minister for Education, Mohammad Nuh and agreed a framework that focuses on education and skills cooperation.

Mr Willetts commented: “The positive effect of these agreements will go further than simply providing scholarships; it will build and strengthen institutional links in teaching and research.

“We will also be looking for future opportunities for our countries to work together in vocational education and training and for partnerships between further education colleges”

The partnerships include a deal between the University of Oxford and the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture to bring more students across to study at Oxford.

Newcastle University’s Indonesian Doctoral Training centre was established, and Northumbria University set up four courses with the Universitas Bina Nusantara, while the University of Nottingham created integrated post graduate courses with the Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta.

An engineering Masters course was created between Cranfield University and Institut Teknologi Bandung, while the University of Southampton secured a teaching and research agreement with Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopemberv.

The University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine also confirmed it would work with the medical department at the Universitas Indonesia to work on infectious diseases and public health research.

Commenting on the partnerships, Dr Joanna Newman, Director of the UK Higher Education International Unit, said: “The UK Indonesia Scholarship Programme is a landmark commitment by the Indonesian government and UK universities in student mobility.

“Indonesia has 5.4 million students and has huge ambitions for the education of its population and the UK is extremely well placed to develop long-lasting partnerships in teaching and research.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .