INUCoST Early Research Dissemination Forum
Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) Centre in Indonesia has collaborated with the Indonesia’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (MoHEST) since October 2024 to promote interdisciplinary research and education collaborations through the Indonesian-Netherlands Universities Consortium on Sustainable FuTures (INUCoST). In this consortium, LDE strengthen its collaboration with five leading universities in Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia (UI), Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Airlangga University (UNAIR), and Mulawarman University (UNMUL).
During the opening of INUCoST Early Research Dissemination Forum, Yvonne Klerks, the Dutch Education and Science Attaché, highlighted the importance of bilateral cooperation of Indonesia and the Netherlands in higher education and science. She underlined the great potential of INUCoST to produce positive changes in the future. ‘INUCoST is an excellent example of effective and valuable endeavour. To me INUCoST is a best practice on how consortia can collaborate and hold annual projects but also address challenges relevant to both countries,’ Klerks said.
Universitas Airlangga hosted the forum on 29 and 30 June 2026 in Surabaya. This workshop showcased the results of research collaborations addressing various challenges on the topics of Biodiversity, AI & Smart Cities, and Energy Transition. The workshop also served as a medium to gather principal investigators from Indonesia and LDE to answer one important thing; as the first cohort of this collaboration, what were the common challenges and lessons learned? The answers are crucial for the following cohorts of INUCoST collaborations.
A major identified follow up is that Indonesian researchers are keen to involve PhD students in this collaborative research project. Together with MoHEST, LDE arranged multiple discussions with the country’s sole funding agency for research and education, Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP). MoHEST and LPDP have come to a decision to implement this integration for the upcoming batch.
Despite all the challenges encountered in the first-year implementation, Wim van den Doel, LDE Dean, was very delighted and impressed to hear the progress of each research project. He acknowledged the previous challenges discussed and will support the possibility of continuing the collaboration through PhD integration and double degree’s master programme, as some of the current projects might be the stepping stone for future academic collaboration.