On June 14, the Chairman of the Indonesian National Research Council, Prof. Andrianto Handojo, visited the ZMT with the purpose of discussing issues of the German-Indonesian cooperation in research. Prof. Handojo came to Germany as a member of the Indonesian delegation to attend the bilateral Indonesian - German Inter-Ministerial Committee Meeting in Berlin.
According to Prof. Handojo, the recently released Indonesian National Research Agenda for 2010 – 2014 envisions a strong attention on marine research topics. A better knowledge of the benefits from the sea as a source of energy and food, as well as the potential threats from climate change such as the increase of sea level is urgently needed. Indonesia is aiming at developing the necessary scientific and technological expertise and is seeking cooperation with international partners. In this context, German institutions would have a vital role to play.
Germany and Indonesia can look back on a long history of research cooperation based on mutual trust and extensive experience. A prominent example is the SPICE-Project (Science for the Protection of Indonesian Coastal Ecosystems), which is a joint interdisciplinary scientific program coordinated by the ZMT. Prof. Handojo indicated that in a prospective third project phase, the Indonesian side would be interested among others in research based training of post graduates and strengthening the marine faculties at the Indonesian universities.
