Government Allocates Rp 57 Billion to Fund 122 Joint Research Projects with Industry

The Ministry of Education, Higher Education, Science, and Technology has allocated Rp 57 billion to fund 122 science and technology research programmes. These studies involve 854 lecturers and academic staff directly collaborating with industry.

Director General of Science and Technology at the Ministry, Ahmad Najib Burhani, explained that the programme aims to bridge research innovations with real-world industry needs. Through this collaboration scheme, the outcomes of the 122 researches funded by the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) are expected to be directly utilised by industry and even commercialised.

Najib stated that this research programme differs from traditional studies, which are typically oriented towards journal or book publications.

“This direction is different. It solves societal problems, together with industry and skill enhancement. Therefore, we also collaborate with the government on what issues are problems in the regions,” said Najib during the launch of the Bestari Saintek Programme under the 2026 State Budget Funding Scheme in Jakarta on Wednesday, 29 April 2026.

The researches are distributed across eight strategic sectors, with the food and agriculture sector having the most at 45 proposals. This is followed by social humanities, arts, culture, and education with 30 proposals, and maritime with 12 research proposals.

Next, information and communication technology with 9 teams, health and medicine with 8 teams, disasters with 8 teams, energy and renewable new energy with 6 teams, and advanced materials with 4 teams.

Najib said the 122 selected researches underwent a very rigorous and competitive selection process. From 2,499 registrants who completed the statement of interest documents, only 122 research teams were selected. This number involves 854 lecturers and academic staff, supported by 341 supporting industries from various sectors.

Institutionally, the universities leading the research are dominated by state universities (PTN) at 57.8 per cent, while 42.2 per cent are contributed by private universities (PTS). “This figure affirms the crucial role of PTN and also PTS as drivers of national research, while showing the vitality and contribution of many PTS that are increasingly active in our national research activities,” said Najib.