Post-tsunami University initiative helps restore research capacity to devastated Aceh
Media Release, Tuesday 4 September 2007
An Australian higher-education collaboration that is helping to rebuild research capacity in the Indonesian province of Aceh will be launched by the Rector of Universitas Syiah Kuala and the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia in Banda Aceh on Wednesday 5 September, in the presence of Governor Irwandi Yusuf.
The Aceh Research Training Institute (ARTI) is a direct response by Australian academics to the devastation the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused in Aceh, a province that had previously suffered three decades of armed conflict and contestation.
Australian Director of the ARTI program, Professor Michael Leigh, from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, says following the tsunami he was overwhelmed by enquiries from academics with connections to the region, who wanted to know how they could help, in practical terms.
Working closely with his colleague Dr Darni Daud, Rector of Universitas Syiah Kuala (Unsyiah), Professor Leigh conducted a ‘rapid-needs-analysis’ in February 2005. It became clear that while many aid efforts were rightly directed to restoring physical damage and relieving human suffering, there was a very significant gap in educational resources and research capacity.
Professor Leigh says: “Although this project was established in response to the tsunami, it is also an acknowledgement that many years of conflict have drained the region of leadership in education and research, and of basic educational resources.”
“Many academics were among the near 200,000 Acehnese killed in the tsunami,” explains Professor Leigh. “The enlistment of many remaining academics by NGOs and Government in the efforts to rebuild the province, and provision of scholarships for higher education overseas, meant that there was a drastic shortage of talent in tertiary institutions. It was therefore decided to help retain and develop skills on the ground in Aceh, through the re-invigoration and expansion of an Aceh research training facility that was first established with international linkages during the mid-1970s”.
Based at Unsyiah, ARTI now draws on the commitment of academics and postgraduate students from a consortium of eight Australian and four Indonesian universities, with financial underwriting from the Myer Foundation and AusAID’s Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development.
In its first six months ARTI has provided research training programs for 245 Acehnese academics, community, government and NGO workers, with 12 introductory courses in research methods already delivered out of a total of 24 introductory courses expected to run over the three-year life of the project.
Programs offered begin with the Introduction to Research Methods, progressing on to intensive discipline-based research training in health, law, gender in society, education, social analysis, and other areas in response to local needs and priorities. A group of researchers selected from these introductory courses will receive scholarships and intensive research mentoring to conduct field-based research in Aceh.
In addition to the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Victoria University, Monash University, the University of Sydney, and La Trobe University are involved, along with Universitas Islam Negeri, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Institut Agama Islam Negeri (Aceh) and Universitas Muhammadiyah Aceh.
The Institute will be launched officially by the Rector, Universitas Syiah Kuala and the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, at the Aceh Research Training Centre on Wednesday 5 September at 9am.
Interview (Australian/International media):
Professor Michael Leigh, Australian Program Director, ARTI
Tel: +62 81 360 140 566
Interview (Indonesian media):
Ms Meilizar, Acehnese Program Officer, ARTI
Tel: +62 81 360 516 464 / +62 651 755 2368
University of Melbourne Indonesia Office contact:
Ms Denok Sri Sukartinah, Country Manager (Indonesia)
Tel: +62 21 520 0407
Email: denok.s@unimelb.edu.au
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