Although current Indonesian president Joko Wikodo made a pledge in 2014 to double the nation’s R&D funding, the 2017 Indonesian budget for R&D has decreased 40.1% to IDR 150 billion ($11.2 million), marking the first time that the country’s research budget has been cut. Indonesia’s overall R&D expenditure is approximately IDR 10 trillion ($748 million) per year, or 0.09% of its GDP. Traditionally, until this budget cut, the government allocated IDR 1.395 trillion ($104 million) to the country’s national research program, which includes academic institutions and other research institutions. To prepare for the cut in funding, a consortium led by the Sepuluh Nopember Insitute of Technology in Subraya, East Java, will be formed, comprising a coalition of over 40 state and private universities known as the Eastern Part of Indonesia-University Network, or EPI-NET. Researchers hope to collaborate on similar or the same research topics, and share the limited funding and human resources. President Wikodo has called for more applied research, specifically in marine, food and renewable energy.

Source: University World News