Visit by the University of Jember (Indonesia) to Groningen

Combining destinations in the Netherlands and northern Germany, a delegation from the University of Jember paid a physical visit to the University of Groningen on Tuesday 25 January. The Rector, Dr. Iwan Taruna, and the Vice-rector for Academic Affairs, Prof. Slamin, discussed renewal of the existing Memorandum of Understanding and the cooperation activities thereunder with Prof. Bayu Jayawardhana (FSE-ENTEG, and UG Academic Ambassador for Southeast Asia) and Mr. Mervin Bakker (Director) and Mr. Tim Zwaagstra (Manager Southeast Asia) of the office for International Strategy & Relations.

The University of Jember is a regional university from East Java that has proved to be a consistent and reliable cooperation partner of the University of Groningen. Using overseas PhD scholarships from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and from the Islamic Development Bank, two Jember staff members have attained the PhD degree in Groningen, and three more are currently working toward the same, in varying academic disciplines. On top of that, Jember has cleared its own funds to enable one of the PhD alumni, Dr. Asmoro Lelono, to rejoin his GELIFES research colleagues in Groningen for the second time since his successful PhD defense.

Recognizing this quite satisfactory steady state of the cooperation with Jember, UG President Prof. Jouke de Vries signed the new MoU between the two universities only a few days after the visit.