NTB's Brida Launches 2026 Young Researcher Competition

The Regional Research and Innovation Agency (Brida) of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) has officially launched a regional research and innovation competition for young researchers in 2026. Head of Brida NTB, I Gede Putu Aryadi, stated that the competition is the first programme initiated by the Governor of NTB and entrusted to Brida for implementation. He said the competition serves as a collaborative space for young researchers to present real solutions to various development issues in NTB. According to him, the government cannot solve all development problems without support from various parties. Therefore, research results are expected not to remain as scientific documents but to evolve into applicable innovations that can serve as a basis for policymaking and benefit the community. Brida NTB has set three priority research themes: poverty alleviation, food and energy security, and sustainable tourism. To ensure an objective and professional selection process, Brida is collaborating with academics, researchers, practitioners, and independent elements in the evaluation team. A total of 15 best proposals will receive stimulus funding of Rp30 million per proposal, along with mentoring from the evaluation team through to the implementation stage so that the research results can be applied and provide tangible benefits to the community. Evaluation team member Khairul Hamim said the research competition is not merely a contest but a platform to test the ability of young researchers in offering solutions to regional problems. He emphasised that the resulting research must be applied in nature so it can serve as a basis for policy or produce innovations useful to the community. According to Khairul, the three priority themes were chosen because they are directly related to NTB’s development needs. In the field of poverty alleviation, participants can develop research on intervention models, evaluation of government programmes, village governance, and community empowerment. Meanwhile, in the field of food and energy security, research is directed at increasing agricultural productivity, local food diversification, downstream agricultural processing, and energy development. The sustainable tourism theme includes destination management, strengthening community-based tourism, environmental conservation, and improving the quality of human resources in the tourism sector.