Cooperation with Indonesia: IPB University in Kleve
For ten years, HSRW has been cooperating closely with IPB University, Indonesia's largest agricultural university. An international visit to Kleve is now intensifying the academic exchange. What do the joint future projects look like?
When international academic worlds that share a common vision for research and teaching meet, the most exciting perspectives often emerge. In this spirit, the Faculty of Life Sciences at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) was recently pleased to welcome two top-class guests from Indonesia to the Kleve campus: Prof. Dr. Ir. Iskandar Z Siregar (Vice Rector for Global Connectivity, Collaboration and Alumni Relations IPB) and Dr. Aidil Azhar from the College of Vocational Studies of the renowned IPB University.
IPB University, located in Bogor, is an academic heavyweight. With around 39,000 students and top positions in international rankings, it is the largest and most important agricultural university in Indonesia – and thus purely quantitatively "one size larger" than HSRW. However, in scientific cooperation, they have long met on an equal footing.
For around ten years now, both institutions have maintained close relations, formally underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding and an Exchange Agreement. The cooperation with the Indonesian Department of Agroindustrial Technology is particularly intensive. This exchange lives from the people: HSRW lecturers such as Prof. Dr. Joachim Fensterle, Prof. Dr. Matthias Kleinke, and Prof. Dr. Ronny Hartanto have already been on site several times to give lectures. At the same time, students from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences frequently use the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at IPB.
Campus tour between high-tech labs and greenhouse
The current visit provided the opportunity to make this partnership physically tangible and to explore new synergies. Accompanied by Anne Ahrberg from the International Center of HSRW, the delegation explored the campus.
In addition to the teaching rooms, the practical facilities of the Faculty of Life Sciences were the main focus: The guests were pleased with the state-of-the-art laboratories, the microscopy center, and the Tropical Greenhouse, which offers an ideal interface especially for agricultural science issues in an international context.
In a series of intensive working meetings, the Indonesian guests exchanged views with the Vice Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Platte, as well as colleagues Prof. Dr. Matthias Kleinke, Prof. Dr. Jens Gebauer, Prof. Dr. Natalie Laibach, and the research assistant for international affairs Björn Flockau.
New Horizons: The SCOPE-HE TVET Program
The fact that they are not resting on past successes is proven by a brand new project. Both universities are currently preparing a joint application for the "SCOPE-HE TVET" program, funded by the European Union and ASEAN. This program aims at the further development of vocational and higher education (TVET – Technical and Vocational Education and Training). For both sides, this is a logical and forward-looking step towards shaping global education standards together.
The existing cooperation between HSRW and IPB is not only to be continued, but substantially expanded. A central objective is to establish the student exchange even more strongly in the future in order to make it easier for Indonesian students to find their way to the Lower Rhine region. In addition, further joint research projects are to be launched.
The delegation's visit has shown once again: Internationalization does not take place on paper, but in personal encounters, in joint research, and in constant dialogue across continents.