Research has to be market oriented, says LIPI chairman

Research has to be market oriented, says LIPI chairman

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
called on researchers to focus on practical marketable studies
rather than purely scientific ones.

"This is no longer the time for (scientists) to conduct
research for the sake of science only," said LIPI chairman
Samaun Samadikun. "(Research) should be based on actual needs."

Scientific researchers should "have their feet firmly planted
on the ground" and heed the demands which are developing in
society, Samaun said.

Speaking to the press after meeting with Vice President Try
Sutrisno, Samaun said his office conducted such marketable, fund-
generating researches.

He said his office's annual budget is Rp 75 billion (US$34.70
million), some Rp 10 billion of which is derived from its service
marketing revenue. Several institutions under LIPI, including the
National Engineering Laboratory (LEN) in Bandung, West Java, are
already able to fund their own activities.

Accompanied by his deputy, S. Kayatmo, Samaun was meeting with
Try to report on the construction of three research centers in
Bandung.

The centers are for research on telecommunication, computers
and subject matter, computers and data, and for electric power
and "mechatronics". Try is expected to officially open the Rp 11
billion ($5 million) centers in August.

Samaun said he planned to involve the private sector in
developing the center further. "If private industries are
interested in our research, they can market them...and provide
LIPI with royalties," Kayatmo added.

According to Samaun, Try has reminded them that efforts to
develop industries should never sacrifice the development of
science.

The problem of perceived lower standards in proficiency among
local researchers and inadequate facilities have often been cited
as among the hindrances for multinational companies from using
Indonesian research institutions.

LIPI once charged that multinational companies operating in
Indonesia preferred to use research and development facilities in
their countries of origin.

Indonesian researchers have a long-standing complaint that
inadequate funds and facilities provided by the government has
seriously hampered research activities.

The problem has been aggravated by the notoriously low
salaries and incentives for researchers, which force many of them
to seek additional jobs.

Senior scientists have also lamented that, compared to other
countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is at a disadvantage as
many of its scientists are "late bloomers" who finish their
doctorates at around 40 years of age. (swe)