The World Atomic Agency Gives IDR 500 Million Funding For UI Researchers To Conduct Medical Physics Research

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - A research lecturer from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) at the University of Indonesia (UI), Lukmanda Evan Lubis, received research funding in the field of medical physics worth £32,000 or equivalent to Rp500 million.

The funding comes from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world's atomic agency headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

The Acting Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences UI, Dr. Rokhmatuloh, M. Eng said that the obligation of a lecturer is not only to teach but also to be active in conducting research, in accelerating the quality and quantity of campus scientific publications.

"Being a lecturer does not mean that the focus is only on teaching, but also must be active in research activities to build the reputation of faculties and universities. This is important, because building a reputation needs to emphasize innovation born from research activities," said Rokhmatuloh in his statement, Antara, Thursday, 23 September.

FMIPA UI provides maximum support for lecturers in conducting research activities by providing facilities and internal grant funds. One of them is funding for community service programs.

On the other hand, he also encourages researchers to obtain external research funds as an effort to accelerate this.

"The main assets of lecturers or researchers are creative and innovative ideas, therefore, we at FMIPA UI provide various facilities as well as funding to support lecturers to realize their innovations through research activities," he explained.

With the collective efforts of its civitas in boosting the quality of scientific publications, FMIPA UI in 2021 managed to rank in the world rankings according to the QS World University Rankings at positions 151 – 200 in the Geography category and positions 551 – 600 in the Physics & Astronomy category.

Therefore, he invited all FMIPA UI researchers to continue to be enthusiastic in conducting research activities and producing quality scientific publications.

"FMIPA UI continues to strive to develop collaborations with international institutions as a strategy in improving the reputation and recognition of international partners. The reputation of FMIPA UI has been recognized worldwide as released by QS WUR in 2021. For this reason, the civitas must be more enthusiastic in improving the quality and number of works scientific," he explained.

The IAEA through a letter from the Department of Nuclear Sciences & Applications, IAEA, on September 9, 2021 announced that the research team of the Department of Physics, FMIPA UI, which won the funding, consisted of four people, namely, Lukmanda Evan Lubis, Professor of FMIPA UI Prof. Dr. Djarwani S. Soejoko.

As well as two medical physicists who are alumni of S2 Physics FMIPA UI, namely Indah Lestariningsih, M.Sc. (worked at Leuwiliang Hospital, Bogor, West Java) and M. Roslan Abdul Gani, M.Sc. (works at Dharmais Cancer Hospital, Jakarta).

The research project proposal that my team and I submitted was entitled Establishing Guidelines and Recommendations for Solid State Dosimetry in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology.

We will run this program together with medical physicists from hospitals who are collaborating with FMIPA UI in a joint research series. The research will run for five years and funding will begin in 2022.

"Funded research activities will focus on updating international protocols on radiation dosimetry in diagnostic and interventional radiology applications," said Evan, Chief Scientific Investigator (CSI) in his research team.

Through the funding he received, the medical physicist at the University of Indonesia Hospital (RSUI) hopes that his research can develop into a theoretical basis and innovation that is expected to contribute to radiation safety for patients, radiation workers, and the public.

Head of the Master's Degree Study Program (Head of Study Program) in Medical Physics, Dr. Supriyanto Ardjo Pawiro expressed his gratitude for the achievements of the lecturers under the auspices of his study program.

According to him, the quality and quantity of research and scientific publications are important indicators that can represent the quality of a university.

In fact, says Dr. Supriyanto, it becomes an important component in the ranking and accreditation of universities.

So, through the research funding he obtained, he hopes that the new study program at FMIPA UI he leads will be able to contribute important points to the ranking of FMIPA UI in the international arena.