Team researchers consisting of lecturers and students from the Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia, is conducting a Sabbatical Leave program at the University of Bengkulu that will last for the next nine months.
The internship visit activity for the development of superior research focuses on the Mealybug Insect Identification Technique at the Plant Protection Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Bengkulu.
“It is scheduled to take place for the next nine months. The goal is to improve academic achievements and is expected to produce innovations in the focus of the research being carried out,” said Prof. Dr. Agustin Zarkani, S.P, M.Si, as Person in charge (PIC) at the University of Bengkulu.
Prof. Agustin explained that this activity is also a return visit from the Research Collaboration and Student Mobility activities held by the Office of Partnership and International Affairs (UPT KSLI) UNIB last year through the Implementation Arrangement (IA) program.
Researchers from UM carrying out Sabbatical Leave at UNB are Dr. Nurul Ashikin Abdullah and his student, Elin Wong Sing Ying. This team will study the Mealybug Insect Identification Technique (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae).
The target is to create collaborative research between the two universities with outputs in the form of journal article publications, textbooks, and joint completion of student final assignments.
The achievement of this program’s target is expected to have a positive impact on increasing the achievement of the institution’s Main Performance Indicators (IKU), especially related to foreign lecturers and students who are active on the UNIB campus.
Regarding the Mealybug Insect Identification Technique, Prof. Agustin added, that several basic stages of training activities will be provided such as sampling techniques, slide mounting techniques, and species morphology identification techniques.
“Then, there will be a further stage, namely molecular identification techniques and scientific drawing”, explained Prof. Agustin.
Separately, this activity was also greatly appreciated by the Faculty of Agriculture and the Leadership at the University of Bengkulu level.
The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Dr. Ir. Dwi Wahyuni ​​Ganefianti, M.Sc welcomed the presence of researchers from UM with great enthusiasm. “The increasing presence of foreign researchers at the Faculty of Agriculture today can be one indicator of achieving the university’s vision, namely a world class university 2025”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice Rector IV of UNIB for Planning and Cooperation, Prof. Dr. Irfan Gustian, S.Si, M.Si after receiving a visit from the UM Research Team explained that the implementation of this research internship program was part of the implementation of the cooperation agreement between UNIB and UM which has been established since 2020.
“We have carried out many foreign collaborations, one of which is collaboration with UM – Malaysia and this Sabbatical leave or research internship activity is part of the implementation of the MoU,” said Prof. Irfan Gustian.
Prof. Irfan hopes that these similar activities will be carried out more in the future because lecturers and students will be more open to developing knowledge in their respective fields. “On the other hand, this activity will certainly increase the institution’s IKU,” he said. [Release.Editor: Purna Herawan/Public Relations].