SGU aims to transfer high technology

SGU aims to transfer high technology

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the first international university in the country, the Swiss
German University (SGU) was established with a mission: to
transfer high technology from these developed countries to
Indonesian in order to boost its economy.

Unlike other private universities, it's not all about profit
at SGU.

"We have to make profits, indeed, but they will be used for
reinvestment in the university," rector Peter Pscheid told The
Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

He explained that members of the university's boards of
founders and governors are honorary, and do not receive any
payment nor do they have any hand in the university's finances.

Among members of boards of founders and governors are
diplomats from Germany, Switzerland, Australia, as well as CEOs
of companies from involved countries like PT Schenker Petrolog
Utama, PT Rio Tinto Indonesia, PT KN Sigma Trans, PT Anilitika
Sejahtera Lingkungan, PT Alianz Utama, PT Siemens Indonesia and
PT Nestle Indonesia.

Established in 2000 at its campus in Bumi Serpong Damai
housing estate in Tangerang, the university started with only 32
students.

The university now has over 800 students in bachelor's and
master's programs.

Pscheid said SGU offered courses that combined both theory and
internship, and all programs were internationally recognized.

"SGU conforms to European standards, therefore students do not
need to leave their countries and families for years to receive a
prestigious degree," he said, adding that 20 percent of SGU
professors are expatriates.

He said the benefit of students studying in their home country
was that parents could keep a close watch on them. "Fresh
graduates from senior high schools who are aged around 18 are too
young to live alone in other countries," he added.

Pscheid said the government needed to encourage Indonesian
universities to invite as many as possible qualified professors
from overseas so that they would be able to compete with other
world-class universities.

"The government must facilitate the presence of qualified
professors to give lectures in the local universities. It will
curb Indonesian parents from sending their children aboard to
study," he added.

There are five departments in SGU -- engineering, information
technology, business administration, life sciences, and social
sciences.

For majors, students can pick either mechatronics engineering,
business engineering, information and communication technology,
software engineering, business computing, business
administration, hotel and tourist management, pharmaceutical
engineering, food technology or biomedical engineering.

Before finishing studies, students are required to work as
apprentices in Germany for at least six months.

The tuition fees are Rp 22 million (US$2,186) per semester.
But during the internship semester, the tuition fees are halved
to Rp 11 million.

According to deputy rector Ketut Tejawibawa, high discipline
is required at SGU. The discipline is not only for the students,
but also for lecturers.