Twenty-five leading academics from the University of Sydney arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday evening for a three-day visit, marking fifty years since the establishment of Indonesian studies at the university.
The delegation, which is led by the university's chancellor Marie Bashir and the vice president John Hearn, will meet leaders from most of Indonesia's top universities.
During the visit the chancellor also announced a new scholarship, University of Sydney World Scholars, enabling three Indonesian Ph.D. students to study at Sydney.
"The University of Sydney is committed to furthering internationalization and global outreach through all of its activities," John Hearn said in statement made available to The Jakarta Post.
"We are proud to recognize and reward outstanding international research students from Indonesia and other countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa."
The scholarship was established to recognize outstanding international research students from Asia, Latin America and Africa. In total, the scholarships are worth more than A$1.5 million (US$1.4 million) per year.
On Thursday, the University of Sydney and University of Indonesia jointly held a symposium on "Rethinking Development: the Role of the Universities." The symposium was opened by National Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo.
Established in 1958, the University of Sydney's Department of Indonesian Studies has witnessed many of the ups-and-downs of the relationship between the two countries over the last 50 years.
Starting with just a handful of students, the department has grown up into one of the major Australian providers of Indonesian studies, with more than 70 students enrolled this year.
"This reflects an increasing desire among Australians to understand Indonesian culture, politics and economy," said Adrian Vickers, the head of the department.
"In the past, we even reached a point where Indonesian studies almost disappeared. The fall of Suharto, the media depiction of Indonesia as a place of unrest, the liberation of East Timor, and even the treatment of (convicted drug smuggler) Schapelle Corby all contributed to a negative image in the press."
The department has now become a major advisor to the Australian government on the relationship between Indonesia and Australia.
Vickers said the Department was committed to working with government and industry in both countries, had regularly reformed the curriculum, and was proud to work closely with the Indonesian community in Australia.
Collaboration between the University and Indonesia has also seen a big increase in recent years in the areas of history, medicine, law, public health, geography and agriculture.
"I was a student at the University of Sydney 50 years ago, I had a particularly strong interest in Indonesia and I have always been attracted by its fascinating culture and people, " said chancellor Marie Bashir, who is also a Governor of State of New South Wales.
"The University's successful engagement with Indonesia's education sector will help foster other ties between two countries in culture, economy and politics." (**)
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