Researchers complain over meager monthly honorarium

Researchers complain over meager monthly honorarium

JAKARTA (JP): Science and technology researchers have
complained about how small is the honorarium paid to them,
currently Rp 97,000 (US$10) per researcher per month, saying this
is "far behind the profession's expectations and the respect that
should be accorded to it."

"The honorarium was actually raised by Rp 10,000 from the
previous Rp 87,000 last year but still it is far from enough,"
chief of the planning bureau of the Agency for Assessment and
Application of Technology (BPPT) Marzan Azis Iskandar said.

Marzan was speaking to media on Tuesday over the inadequate
honorarium for researchers in the country, which has contributed
to slow improvement in the country's research capability.

Currently there are some 2,000 researchers working in BPPT, he
said.

"And those honoraria apply to nationwide researchers in
science and technology, such as those working for LIPI or BATAN..

"There is no specific payroll based on the level of education
as the minimum requirement (to become a researcher) is an S1
degree. So all of us, from graduate to post-graduate, receive a
similar fee," Marzan explained.

Besides the honorarium, researchers working as civil servants
are currently entitled to a salary according to their
echelon/grade which is between Rp 300,000 and Rp 800,000 per
month and allowances which vary from Rp 400,000 to Rp 800,000 per
month.

Small state budgets for research and study also limit the
research work, he said.

"For instance, a researcher proposed a Rp 300 million study,
but in the end he got around Rp 50 million at the most.

"The study was eventually scaled down to a small research
project which actually had far less scope than the original
proposal," he said.

Arduous bureaucracy in running a research project also
contributes to slow outcomes and in many cases the results of a
study have already become outdated by the time they are
published, Marzan said.

"We do not have enough resources and facilities to support
proper, usable research. That is also why much of the work done
by local researchers seemed to have duplicated that of foreign
studies," he said.

"Actually our researchers are able to find solutions for
traffic congestion, but again there is not enough money to do
it," he said.

Marzan further called for the establishment of a management
approach for research, which must be different from other
private/business management.

"Without proper management people will not realize how to use
the results of research and at the same time the researchers
won't be able to market or distribute their work."

In Indonesia respect and reward for researchers are still very
small and there is no establishment of a proper scientific
journal that can publicize technological and scientific
inventions, he said.

In a bid to make the public more aware about technological
results and studies, BPPT is planning to hold the first seminar
about the country's technology in April, he added.

In the year 2000 BPPT received a total of Rp 48.63 billion for
its main and supporting projects.

This year the total BPPT project budget is Rp 69.83 billion;
60 percent of which goes to core competency projects while 22
percent is allocated to top national projects, 10 percent for
research in developing the economy in rural areas and the
remaining eight percent for supporting projects. (edt)