Young Indonesian scientists win physics awards in Poland
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of students have been given special recognition in observance of National Education Day as they won awards in an international scientific contest in Katowice, Poland.
Chrysanty Rebecca, a student of Dian Harapan school in Banten, and Dhina Susanti of the state-run Senior High School 3 in Semarang won a bronze medal for their research on Physics of the Shuttlecock while Diatra Zulaika, a student of Al-Izhar junior high school in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta and Annika Bowaire of the state senior high school in Serui, Papua, won a special award for their research on chaotic signatures in the horizontal spring system.
"The International Conference of Young Scientists (ICYS) held in Katowice last week is a prestigious contest for senior and junior high school students worldwide. I am proud of them for their victory in such a world competition and this shows Indonesia has played an important role in world-level scientific researches and experiments," stated Yohannes Surya, who trained the students before the contest, as they arrived home on Monday.
Indonesia sent five students to the annual competition, where 21 research projects and experiments were presented by students from 15 countries.
The medals came just after Indonesian senior high school students bagged four gold medals in the Asian Physics Olympiad held in Pekanbaru, Riau, which concluded on Sunday.
"Their performance proves the advancement Indonesia has achieved in the scientific field. Such participation in world- level competition will encourage our students and scientists to dedicate their life to science development. Who knows, an Indonesian could win the Nobel Prize in Physics by 2020," Surya said.
Surya, a professor of physics and mathematics at Satya Wacana University in Salatiga, Central Java, and the University of Pelita Harapan, cited the contribution of three companies -- PT Medco Energy, PT Indologistics and PT Rio Tinto -- for their financial assistance to the Indonesian team sent to Poland.
"It is a good example of the private sector's contribution to scientific development in our country. We expect other companies to follow suit. What the scientists have done will be useful for our industry," he said.
Surya said the partnership between education institutions and the private sector was really necessary, not only because of the limited education budget, but also for the sake of mutual benefits.
"Such a partnership will benefit the development of education and industry. We hope there will be no more low-paid workers and decrepit school buildings as we mark National Education Day every year," he said.