unri.ac.id The collaboration between the University of Riau (Unri) and the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), which has been going on since 2005, is now one step further. Namely by opening up opportunities for the implementation of the doctoral program (PhD) by research. This was revealed in a meeting between the UTM delegation led by Prof. Dr. Abdul Razak Che Husin with the Deputy Chancellor of Unri for Academic Affairs Prof. Dr. M. Nur Mustafa MPd at the Unri Information and Communication Technology (ICT) UPT office, Tuesday (12/2).
In the meeting, Prof. Razak was accompanied by Dr. Havis, while Prof. M. Nur was accompanied by the Head of UPT ICT Ir Ridar Hendri MSi, Dean of FMIPA Dr. Syamsulhuda MSc, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs, Faculty of Engineering Dr. Fajri Akbar, Dr. Dahliusmanto and several other faculty leaders. Prof. Abdul Razak offered Unri to take advantage of the opportunity to send their lecturers to take part in doctoral education programs (S3) in various fields of computer science and business management with a system by research at UTM Johor Baru.
Through this system, said Prof. Razak, doctoral program participants from Unri do not need to attend face-to-face lectures, except for the first week of admission, and a few days at the end of the program. "So after registration and research methodology deepening for a few days, participants are welcome to prepare proposals, guidance and research in Indonesia," he said.
To facilitate guidance, one co-supervisor is a lecturer from Unri. Meanwhile, guidance with the main supervisor is carried out using online communication. "We have done this program with Sriwijaya University," he added.
He said other conveniences include a tuition fee discount of up to 20%, as well as a tuition fee discount after three years, which is up to 75%. This means that in the fourth year only pay 25%. “We provide all these facilities, because Unri has signed an MoU with UTM since 2005. The cooperation includes student exchanges, community service together (camp sources) in Indonesian villages and so on.
The Deputy Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Prof. M. Nur Mustafa, positively appreciated the offer. According to him, in today's era of industrial technology 4.0, programs to accelerate quality development like this are mandatory. Moreover, the interest of lecturers to participate is very high, and at their own expense. “If Sriwijaya University can do it, why can't we? I will report this meeting immediately to the Chancellor,” he said.
Prof. M Nur recounted his experience at his faculty, FKIP when he was still a Dean a month ago. Several FKIP lecturers have just finished their doctoral program by research in Malaysia, although not in UKM. "Now there is another one who will take his doctoral exam there," he added.
According to several Unri lecturers who graduated from UTM, the university is among the top five best universities in Malaysia.