The Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM), and Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam are exploring potential collaboration in education and research. The VU delegation visited FEB UGM on Monday, January 20, 2025, and discussed potential collaboration.
The VU Amsterdam delegation, led by the Academic Director of VU Amsterdam, Prof. Dr. Ir. Elco van Burg, was welcomed by the Head of the Global Relations and Mobility Unit (GREAT) at FEB UGM, Arizona Mustikarini, Ph.D. During the visit, both parties discussed opportunities for collaboration in research, student exchange, and seminars or workshops.
Arizona stated that this meeting provided an opportunity to delve deeper into the prospects of future collaboration.
“This is a good opportunity to have discussions with VU Amsterdam. Most of our IUP (International Undergraduate Program) students choose European countries as their destination for student exchange or double degree programs,” Arizona said.
Arizona also expressed FEB’s openness to collaborating on research opportunities for graduate students. On this occasion, Arizona also offered the Global Summer Week (GSW) 2025 program and invited Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s students to participate. GSW is an annual two-week summer learning program initiated in 2014 in which international students from different countries participate. In addition, FEB UGM invited VU Amsterdam lecturers to be speakers at GSW.
Meanwhile, Elco explained that the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is an AACSB-accredited institution with an existing partnership agreement with UGM at the university level. VU Amsterdam’s main collaborations with UGM are with the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing (FKKMK) and the Faculty of Dentistry (FKG).
“VU Amsterdam has co-published with Universitas Gadjah Mada, accounting for 40.5% of the total co-publications with various universities in Indonesia from 2016 to 2022. In addition, the number of Indonesian students participating in exchange programs, including the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA), continues to increase yearly,” Elco explained.
Elco expressed interest in developing a double degree program. He also suggested future collaboration by sending faculty to UGM as guest speakers or visiting professors.
“In the future, we hope to expand this cooperation to other aspects, such as research cooperation, student exchange programs, and joint curriculum development between FEB UGM and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,” said Elco.
Reportage: Shofi Hawa Anjani
Editor: Kurnia Ekaptiningrum
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