Universitas Indonesia (UI) is ready to resume cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This was conveyed by UI Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, in a meeting with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Southeast Asia (SEA) delegation, which was held on Tuesday, January 14, in Meeting Room A, UI University Administration Center Building, Depok Campus.
Prof. Heri said, “UI previously collaborated with MIT which ended in 2018. This collaboration must be continued because it can improve the quality of education and research that is in accordance with today’s world needs. We hope that through this meeting, the collaboration between UI and MIT can be expanded for joint research and publication.”
At the meeting, the J-PAL SEA delegation that attended consisted of Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, Ben Olken; Executive Director, Lina Marliani; and Deputy Head of Administration and Finance, Buhat Yulianto. Ben explained that J-PAL is a global network of affiliated professors who conduct randomized evaluations to answer important questions in combating poverty.
J-PAL is headquartered globally in the Department of Economics at MIT with seven regional offices under various universities around the world. The J-PAL researcher network has more than 1,600 ongoing and completed randomized evaluations in more than 80 countries. J-PAL supports the scale-up of programs and policies that have benefited more than 600 million people worldwide.
In Indonesia, J-PAL SEA was established in 2013 with support from UI, under the auspices of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM) of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB). J-PAL SEA has produced scientific evidence from 13+ randomized evaluations, and is currently conducting 20+ randomized evaluations in various stages. This institution has collaborated with 12 UI lecturers for study sectors covering finance, environment, labor, social protection, health, education, gender, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs UI, Prof. Ir. Mahmud Sudibandriyo, M.Sc., Ph.D., hopes that the collaboration between UI and J-PAL can be expanded to other fields to solve multidisciplinary problems. “We must identify what has been done and what will be developed. The ongoing collaboration must be continued, especially regarding research ethics. The FEB UI Research Ethics Committee, which reviews research ethics with human subjects, must be expanded to ensure that research is in accordance with applicable ethics,” he said. In addition to representatives from J-PAL SEA, the discussion regarding the expansion of the collaboration was also attended by UI leaders, including the Director of Research and Development, Munawar Khalil, S.Si., M.Eng.Sc., Ph.D.; Head of the Office of International Affairs, drg. Baiduri Widanarko, M.KKK, Ph.D; and Director of LPEM FEB, Chaikal Nuryakin, Ph.D, along with staff.
