UIN Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon Expands Cross-Border Academic Bridges through Indonesia–Australia Diaspora Forum to Integrate Research, Industry, and Societal Development Cycles
Cirebon, February 25 2026 —Lala Bumela Sudimantara, Ph.D., Director of the International Office at UIN Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon consistently demonstrates his unwavering commitment to strengthening global academic diplomacy by actively participating in strategic international forums. He attended the Indonesia–Australia Diaspora Dialogue for Indonesian Lecturers and Researchers in Australia, organized online via Zoom by the Education and Cultural Attaché Office of the Republic of Indonesia in Canberra. The forum featured distinguished speakers, including Prof. Brian Yuliarto, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, and Dr. Siswo Pramono, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Canberra. Also present was Prof. Rudolf Wirawan, the initiator of the BIMA Framework (Bridging Intelligence, Mindfulness and Awareness), alongside 109 Indonesian–Australian lecturers and researchers. Lala Bumela underscored the forum’s core direction by stating,“Research must be designed to create tangible impact on industry and society, not merely to fulfill academic output.”
The dialogue revealed a persistent gap between academic research and real-world utilization, where many studies remain confined to publications without reaching the stages of product development, industrial application, and market integration. Fragmented collaboration among universities, industries, government institutions, startups, communities, and investors has further limited the ability of research to contribute directly to economic growth and social welfare. This situation highlights the urgency of repositioning universities as nodes of economic growth and redefining research agendas to address concrete national and global challenges.
During the forum, the strategic vision of challenge-based and problem-driven research was emphasized as the foundation for aligning academic work with priority sectors such as food, energy, health, artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability, transportation, advanced materials, and digitalization. Responding to this perspective, Lala Bumela Sudimantara, Ph.D. conveyed his institutional commitment by affirming,“Universities must adopt challenge-based research so that every study responds to real problems and strengthens our contribution to national development and global innovation.”
Lecturers and researchers outlined concrete mechanisms to operationalize this vision through the establishment of integrated ecosystems linking education, research, industry, products, and society. Impact-oriented programs were highlighted as key instruments, including the Community Service Programme, Strategic Research Programme, Talent Development Programme, R&D Partnerships, and Science Techno Park Development. Furthermore, Indonesia–Australia collaboration frameworks such as KONEKSI, PAIR Sulawesi, and PRIME were positioned as strategic platforms to expand research connectivity and foster knowledge transfer across borders.
The forum also stressed the strategic role of Indonesian diaspora in Australia as mentors, principal investigators, institutional connectors, gatekeepers to leading universities, and supervisors for joint-degree programs. In parallel, mission-driven orchestration of LPDP scholarships was promoted to strengthen human capital in nationally strategic fields. These efforts are reinforced by accelerated commercialization pathways, ranging from prototype development and market fit validation to early commercialization, scaling-up, and engagement with investors and IPO, supported by strong industrial partnerships and matching fund schemes.
For UIN Siber Syekh Nurjati Cirebon, participation in this strategic diaspora forum represents a concrete step toward aligning international engagement with national research priorities and institutional transformation. It reflects the university’s commitment to integrating global research agendas with industrial relevance and societal welfare. Lala Bumela Sudimantara, Ph.D. concluded by emphasizing, “This initiative is a strategic pathway for UIN SSC to position itself within the global research ecosystem while ensuring that our academic endeavors directly support national progress and community impact.”
Author: Muhammad Azkiya Bahtsulkhoir