Universitas Indonesia Expands Global Partnership Network by Collaborating with SOAS, UK
Depok - Universitas Indonesia (UI) continues to expand its global partnership network by collaborating with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, UK.
“We hope to establish deep cooperation with SOAS in various fields of knowledge, particularly in the social sciences and humanities cluster, including economics, which has long been the main foundation of SOAS’s scholarship,” said UI’s Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Prof. Mahmud Sudibandriyo, in Depok on Monday.
This collaboration is expected to accelerate UI’s internationalisation of education, provide tangible impacts for the academic communities of both institutions and the wider society, as well as strengthen friendship and academic collaboration between Indonesia and the UK.
Meanwhile, SOAS Vice-Chancellor Prof. Adam Habib stated that by strengthening the partnership with UI, SOAS aims to serve as a bridge connecting academic collaboration between the UK and Indonesia, and in a broader context, with nations in Asia and Africa.
During the discussion session, Prof. Habib, who has served as SOAS Vice-Chancellor since 2021, conveyed that SOAS is targeting several collaborations with UI.
The primary aspiration is for SOAS to embrace UI and other leading universities from the Global South to form a Global School of Public Policy.
In addition to public policy, both parties also discussed strengthening academic and research cooperation in economics, particularly in development studies.
In this regard, UI views collaboration with SOAS in development studies as strategically valuable, given that SOAS is one of the world’s leading universities in that field, as evidenced by its second-place ranking in the QS 2026 development studies rankings.
Through this partnership, UI hopes to expand academic mobility for students and lecturers, develop joint research relevant to development challenges in Indonesia and the Asian region, and enrich the curriculum with global perspectives.
The collaboration with SOAS is also expected to open access for UI academics to participate in international research networks, thereby not only enhancing UI’s academic reputation but also providing tangible contributions to society and sustainable development.