Willetts signs UK-Indonesia agreement

There will also be a new UK-Indonesia Scholarship Programme which will support up to 150 Indonesian PhD students to study in the UK each year.

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the partnerships will be between:

- The University of Oxford and the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture to allow more Indonesian students to study at Oxford

- Newcastle University and the Universitas Indonesia to establish a doctoral training centre

- Cranfield University and Institut Teknologi Bandung to create a double-degree master’s programme in engineering and technology

- Northumbria University and Universitas Bina Nusantara to set up four new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in interior design, industrial design, interactive media design and multidisciplinary design innovation

- The University of Nottingham and Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta to design integrated master’s and PhD programmes in materials design, studied at both sites

- The University of Southampton and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember to cooperate on teaching and research, and developing academic exchanges

- The Open University and Universitas Terbuka to collaborate on quality assurance, curriculum development and pedagogic research

- The Nuffield Department of Medicine, the University of Oxford and the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia to work together on infectious disease and public health research and establish the FMUI-Oxford Clinical Research Centre.

David Willetts, the universities and science minister, signed the agreement on 2 November.

“This is a major step towards establishing the UK as Indonesia’s partner of choice in education and research,” he said.

“The positive effect of these agreements will go further than simply providing scholarships; it will build and strengthen institutional links in teaching and research,” he continued.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com