Joint research activities, capacity development in the form of teaching and the training of young researchers, as well as collaboration on scientific publications and events are the focus of a memorandum of understanding recently agreed upon between the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) and the National Research and Innovation Agency, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN) in Indonesia.
Prof. Dr. Edy Giri Rachman Putra, Deputy Chairman for Human Resources in Science and Technology at BRIN, and the Scientific Director of ZMT, Prof. Dr. Raimund Bleischwitz, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of promoting cooperation between the two institutions in various research areas. These include overarching topics such as marine ecosystems, biodiversity, environmental sciences, utilization of marine resources, and management.
Prof. Dr. Raimund Bleischwitz underlines the significance of the MoU for ZMT: "As a member of the group of 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries, Indonesia plays a central role in Southeast Asia. The country is an important international player in marine and climate research and in global climate protection," says Bleischwitz. "ZMT is delighted to be able to strengthen its long-standing partnership with Indonesian partners through the MoU with BRIN, and to take it to a new level. Our future work will address globally important topics such as marine biodiversity conservation, sustainable tourism, aquaculture, and the use of coasts and mangrove forests as carbon sinks. The promotion of young scientists is a particular concern of ours."
On behalf of BRIN, Prof. Dr. Edy Giri Rachman Putra commented that future cooperation between the two institutions is important, benefiting both countries and having a broad global impact. Moreover, current research in Indonesia focuses on advanced biodiversity utilization on terrestrial and sea, and marine and deep-sea research, which is a priority for national food security, energy, health, and environmental sustainability. Most importantly, this cooperation will also provide young research and innovation talents that will be greatly needed in the future.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the highly influential National Research and Innovation Agency BRIN, a cabinet-level government agency, is based on ZMT's long-standing and trusted cooperation with a number of Indonesian research and educational institutions.
These relations began more than 20 years ago as part of the German-Indonesian science and technology cooperation with the interdisciplinary research and capacity development program "Science for the Protection of Indonesian Coastal Ecosystems" (SPICE). Under the guidance of ZMT on the German side, this cooperation project dealt with scientific, social and economic issues relating to the management of Indonesian coastal ecosystems and their resources over a period of twelve years.
The founding of the still young National Research and Innovation Agency Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN) was decided by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in 2019; it has the status of a government agency in Indonesia. The agency was officially established in 2021 by another presidential order and declared Indonesia's only national research agency.
The MoU with BRIN, as the principal research agency, forms the springboard for cooperation agreements with other research and educational institutions in Indonesia in the field of marine and/or environmental sciences. A first joint research project under the new MoU is the MOOBYF project funded under the BiodivERsA+ program, which runs from 2024 to 2027. For ZMT, the enhanced cooperation is an important element of its strategic institute expansion TropEcS and its partnership strategy, in which Indonesia, alongside Peru, is one of the target regions.
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