Go8 calls for closer research ties with Indonesia

Group of 8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said closer research ties were needed between the two countries.

Scott Morrison and Joko Widodo near Jakarta last week. AAP

The Group of Eight universities has welcomed the trade deal with Indonesia on which Scott Morrison and President Joko Widodo made progress during their talks in Jakarta last week.

However the group, representing the Australia’s research intensive universities, said universities needed to address issues beyond student exchanges and setting up campuses in Indonesia, which the new deal is expected to allow.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said closer research ties were also needed between the two countries.

“Despite being Australia’s closest neighbour, home to 240 million people and sharing many common challenges, the research relationship between Australian and Indonesian researchers remains underdeveloped,” she said.

A Go8 study has found that ­although the number of Australian researchers co-authoring ­papers with Indonesians had increased from 44 in 1996, it was still a modest 207 in 2010.

And on a 2015 list of countries involved in collaboration with ­researchers on Australian Research Council grants, Indonesia ranked 18th with 59 collaborative projects, including new and ongoing ones.

Ms Thomson said anecdotal evidence suggested that although the Indonesian government encouraged researchers to collaborate with overseas counterparts, their first choice was US and European research partners, because it was believed these offered greater return in terms of publications and ­citations.

“This suggests a need for Australia to invest more heavily in efforts to ensure that Indonesian academics look to Australia for research collaboration opportunities,” Ms Thomson said.

She said Australian researchers needed to take into account the fact that Indonesian researchers were often constrained by poor resources.

“Work also needs to be done to bridge the different approaches of the two countries to issues such as intellectual property rights,” she said.

The Go8 has made several recommendations to the Morrison government, including reaching an agreement with Jakarta on simplified visas processes for Australians wishing to do research in Indonesia and making it easier for Indonesian researchers to spend time in Australia; and creating a grants scheme for research projects involving Australian-Indonesian collaboration.

Peak body Universities Australia also welcomed the free trade agreement, saying that granting access for Australian universities to operate in Indonesia would ­further deepen ties.