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)