Students get look at research life

BOGOR: Cosmetics company PT L'Oreal Indonesia and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) hosted on Tuesday a study tour of LIPI's biotechnology research center in Bogor for high school students.

Twenty-five students from five Jakarta high schools were selected to take part in the tour through an essay competition. The students were required to write essays explaining why scientific research is important for resource-rich countries like Indonesia.

PT L'Oreal Indonesia staff member Richele Maramis Sung said the tour was part of efforts to encourage students to enter a career in scientific research.

The French-based company has also worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSECO) to encourage female students to pursue research careers.

Indonesian Ines Atmosukarto received the L'Oreal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Sciences this year. She was honored for her research on endophytes, a family of fungi that has the potential to produce antibiotics, and anticancer and antifungal drugs. -- JP