Science faculties Universitas Indonesia and Universiteit Leiden expand cooperation
The Science faculties of Universitas Indonesia (UI) and the Universiteit Leiden signed agreements on Tuesday April 12 that will strengthen cooperation between the Faculties. The agreements were signed at the closing of a two day visit of a delegation from Indonesia. The delegation, which was led by UI’s rector, Prof. Dr. Anis, visited the Faculty of Science as well as other faculties of the Universiteit Leiden.
The cooperation between the Science faculties will develop on several platforms. The Leiden Botanical garden will make its expertise available for the establishment of a botanical garden on the UI Campus in Jakarta. The Leiden Institute of Environmental Science (CML) will start up research with UI focusing on making palm oil plantations more sustainable. The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) will bundle research efforts with UI in the fields of bioinformatics, genomics and bioprospecting. The cooperation combines the rich biodiversity of Indonesia and the available knowledge thereof at UI with the expertise in Leiden in bioinformatics, biodiversity and molecular biology. As part of the cooperation, talented students from UI will be invited to work on their PhD and on joint publications in Leiden. Finally, the faculties will explore if and how students from Leiden could make use of the UI research stations in some of Indonesia’s natural parks.
The UI delegation consisted, besides the rector, of the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Dr. Haris, and two researchers. The dean of UI’s Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Dr. Soesilo was also part of the delegation. Both researchers, Dr. Supriatna and Dr. Andayani, work for nature conservation organizations in Indonesia, besides their work as researchers. Dr. Supriatna received a high decoration from Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1999, for his work in nature conservation. The Universitas Indonesia is one of the top universities in Indonesia, and is located in Jakarta.
Header: From left to right: Dean of Faculty of Science UI Dr. Abdul Haris, Prof. Dr. Herman Spaink, Rector of UI Prof. Dr. Anis, Dean of the Faculty of Science Leiden, Prof. Dr. Geert de Snoo, Dr. Jatna Supriatna, Prof. Dr. Eric Eliel, Dr. Noviar Andayani and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science Leiden, Gert Jan van Helden.