UQ and Indonesia

After more than 50 years of close collaboration, UQ is one of the most engaged international universities with Indonesia, and has close ties with the University of Indonesia and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. Through our research synergies – particularly food and water security, energy and resource management, and governance – UQ and Indonesia are creating a healthier, happier, and more sustainable future.

537
Indonesian students enrolled at UQ

88
Indonesia-UQ co-publications

13
academic staff born in Indonesia

1
research project collaborations

2328
alumni in Indonesia

34
agreements with 22 official partners

Fast facts show full-year 2019 data.

The UQ Indonesia Office is strategically located in central Jakarta, adjacent to the Queensland Trade and Investment’s ASEAN Office. As a result, we can collaborate more directly with universities, government agencies, corporate networks, and non-governmental organisations, and support our alumni in the wider South-East Asian region.

Co-publications

We have partnered with Indonesia-based researchers on 365 co-publications in the past 5 years. The top research areas include environmental sciences, ecology, and public, environmental and occupational health. Our top co-publishers were the University of Indonesia, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

Research collaborations

In the past 5 years, UQ has collaborated with Bogor Agricultural University, Universitas Indonesia, and WWF, Indonesia on 3 research projects.

Research funding

One Indonesian organisation, Universitas Indonesia, has worked on two research projects in the past 5 years (ongoing research with no new funding). Projects investigate multilingual diversity in a changing Indonesia, and sustainable management of Borneo's landscapes.

Research by Facebook into hate speech

UQ researchers, University of Sydney and Facebook are working together on a 12-month project to devise policy that manages online harmful content and hate speech in the Asia-Pacific region. The study will look at how well Facebook’s policies and procedures are able to identify and regulate this type of content. Facebook has done this in Europe, but this is the first such venture in the Asia Pacific. The project will expand on work already conducted at UQ by Dr Kirril Shields and Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect on the legal regulation of hate speech and incitement in Asia. The Sydney team will map hate networks on sample Facebook pages in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Australia.

Bringing green gold to Indonesian lands

Indonesian small-hold farmers have seen their livestock suffer from low productivity because of poor nutrition and prolonged dry seasons. UQ researchers have found that Fodder tree legumes (FTL), like Leucaena leucocephala, provide high protein feed even during long periods of drought. Centre for Crop Science A/Professor Max Shelton and team – experts from the Assessment Institutes for Agricultural Technology, University of Mataram and CSIRO – worked with 2000+ farmers, who planted one million FTL seedlings. The $1.777m project trained 60 Government staff and 80 farmers, and distributed 2000kg of improved leucaena fodder tree seed grown and sold by Indonesian smallholders. Government agencies across Eastern Indonesia have now adopted this practice.

An ore-some forest

Researchers at UQ's Sustainable Mineral Institute (SMI) Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation are working with nickel hyperaccumulator plants in Halmahera Island, Indonesia. Hyperaccumulator plants are able to accumulate four per cent nickel in their leaves, translating to over 300kg of nickel per hectare per year in harvested biomass. Farming metal crops and harvesting their metal-rich biomass is called ‘agromining’, enabling access to resources, like nickel or cobalt, needed for lithium-ion batteries and other high-tech demands. Research at the Centre has led to the discovery of 120 hyperaccumulator plants new to science. These unusual plants could also assist in the rehabilitation of polluted land.

Managing banana diseases in the centre of origin

Bananas evolved in Indonesia and provide food security with over 7 million tonnes produced annually. An expert on tropical plant diseases, Professor André Drenth, is collaborating with several Indonesian partners to improve the detection, identification and management of the banana blood disease. The disease, named after the red-brown discolouration when the fruit is cut, has spread across the Indonesian Archipelago and to peninsular Malaysia. The Australian Plant Biosecurity Science Foundation funds the research. The Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education awarded Professor Drenth a ‘World Class Professorship’ in 2017 while the Crawford Fund awarded him an International Engagement Award in 2019.

Conserving healthy marine ecosystems

The Capturing Coral Reef & Related Ecosystem Services (CCRES) project worked to unlock the natural wealth of coastlines in the East Asia-Pacific region, with the aim of enhancing livelihoods, improving food security, and sustaining marine environments. Funded by the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, and UQ, many elements of the project took place in South Sulawesi, an area rich in biodiversity but under pressure from over-harvesting. The project developed 16 technical tools and knowledge products to assist managers, policy-makers and planners to improve the management of coastal ecosystems. Several UQ bodies are involved in the project, including the School of Biological Sciences and UQ Business School.

Modern humans and Homo erectus did not co-exist

UQ researchers Dr Michael Westaway and Professor Jian-xin Zhao together with lead author Associate Professor Kira Westaway from Macquarie University helped to establish the age and a new chronology for a critical geological site in central Java for understanding the later stages of human evolution. The international study, published in Nature was led by the Institute of Technology, Indonesia; Macquarie University; and University of Iowa. The study resulted in 52 new ages, indicating the Ngandong river deposit and fossils were laid down between 117-108,000 years ago. A/Prof Kira Westaway said that “By clarifying the age range and putting it into the context of the changing fossil record and new DNA research, it is possible to arrive at an entirely new position of understanding in human evolution.”

In the past 5 years, more than 1150 Indonesian students have been enrolled in UQ degrees, largely in PhD studies, Arts and Commerce programs. Not surprisingly, Indonesia's vibrant culture is alive and well on campus. The UQ Indonesian Student Association (UQISA) offers opportunities for students to socialise, learn about and promote Indonesian cultures, and build community. All students, Indonesian and non-Indonesian, are encouraged to join in the Association's active social calendar.

The Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law (BEL) offers the Indonesian Global Leaders Scholarship, which covers tuition at UQ (excluding the MBA) up to A$10,000, as well as a number of programs to help develop employability skills.

Video: Tamara Anisa, from Indonesia, shares her experience of studying a Master of Communication for Social Change at UQ with a young family

Our students can study Indonesian through the School of Languages and Cultures, which offers approximately 15 Indonesian language courses. Students study the country’s history, politics, cultures and society while developing spoken and written languages skills from a wide range of authentic, contemporary sources.

The Institute of Modern Languages (IML) at UQ also offers Indonesian courses for the wider community.

Video: What to expect while studying Indonesian at UQ, and where graduates can go.

Support for in-country learning

UQ is a founding member of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), a non-profit consortium of universities that develops and coordinates study options in Indonesia for Australian students. More than 35 UQ students have completed ACICIS programs in Indonesia since 1997 in the fields of business, Indonesian language, and development studies.

Scholarship program

Through its New Colombo Plan (NCP) Scholarship Program, the Australian Government supported two UQ undergraduates to study in Indonesia in 2017. Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor Arts student Michael Lucas studied Indonesian language immersion at Gadjah Mada University and Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws student Alexander Williams studied international law, Indonesian civil and criminal law, and Islamic law at the University of Indonesia. Alexander undertook internships with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Indonesian Judicial Commission.

Mobility Program

The New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility Program supports undergraduates to undertake study, internships, and mentorships in Indo-Pacific countries, including in Indonesia. In the most recent NCP round, Bachelor of Journalism students spent two weeks in Jakarta reporting on the 2017 government elections. Along with basic language training, the students gained hands-on experience in the use of technical equipment, and editorial, ethical, legal, and intercultural communication issues.

UQ and the University of Indonesia

UQ has a long-standing partnership with the University of Indonesia (UI). In 2015, UQ and UI celebrated 15 years of a joint psychology program. In this time, more than 200 Indonesian students have completed their Bachelors degree at UQ, with many UI students staying on for postgraduate programs. In 2017, UQ's Faculty of Business, Economics and Law also celebrated a major milestone with UI: 10 years of student exchange, in which more than 200 dual degree students have entered into UQ bachelors of Business Management, Commerce, and Economics.

Anti-corruption field trip

In February 2017, the TC Beirne School of Law took 15 Bachelor of Laws students on a two-week trip to study Indonesia’s efforts at fighting corruption. Exploring issues of integrity and corporate governance, the students mixed academic study with field-based learning.

Professor Endang Sukura

Research Professor in Microbiology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences; 2014 UQ International Alumnus of the Year (PhD 1989)

Dr Sidrotun Naim

Director of the Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture and Pathology Studies at Surya University; former Research Scientist at Harvard Medical School; 2012 winner of the UNESCO-L'Oreal Women in Science Award (Master of Marine Biology 2005)

Dr Alue Dohong

Vice Minister of Environmental and Forestry at Ministry of Environmental and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia (PhD 2016)

UQ and Indonesia Engagement Snapshot

UQ and Indonesia share a strong and productive history of engagement stretching back more than 50 years. Our joint research efforts and people-to-people links enrich our countries.