Repair Obstacles to the Advancement of Research

A number of researchers new to BRIN saw an opportunity to conduct competitive research despite some critical notes. Meanwhile, many senior researchers feel that the research ecosystem is deteriorating.

KOMPAS/AHMAD ARIF

The Defense and Security Hangar (Hankam) at the Science and Technology Research Center (Puspiptek), Serpong, South Tangerang, which was previously a test site for unmanned aircraft structures and various aerospace research activities, was abandoned and deserted, Friday (5/8/2022) . Since joining the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the MALE Kombatan Drone project has been hampered, as have other national strategic research programs.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The integration of research institutions under the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) with centralized management, budgets and human resources has triggered debates about the pros and cons of the move among researchers. Improvements are needed so that institutional integration does not hinder the advancement of research in Indonesia.

Kompas interviewed a number of BRIN researchers from various fields and positions to describe the situation they faced. The interviews covered the research ecosystem, funding and working mechanisms, which were summarized on Thursday (11/8/2022).

A number of researchers who have recently joined BRIN tended to have positive expectations and see opportunities to conduct competitive research, even though they shared a number of critical notes. On the other hand, senior researchers were mostly pessimistic and felt the ecosystem and research bureaucracy are deteriorating.

Rahma Hanifa, a young researcher from the Geological Disaster Research Center who joined BRIN in December 2021, said that she felt more motivated and encouraged to research because there was a target output paper or scientific paper. As a new researcher, she had also been able to submit proposals as a principal investigator.

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In addition, institutional integration allowed her to work together with researchers and engineers from various other institutions with similar interests.

Semeidi Husrin, a researcher at the Geological Disaster Research Center at BRIN, formerly a researcher at the Research and Development Division of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, said the mechanism for submitting research proposals encouraged the agency to be more competitive. “Researchers will be encouraged to work hard because earning money is not easy. Previously, [while at the KKP] research funds were distributed. Failure or success, it was the same, anyone could get [funding] again the following year," he said.

A researcher from the Center for Environmental and Clean Technology Research of the BRIN Environmental and Biological Research Organization, Athanasia Amanda Septevani, said that since the merger, there had been no barriers between research institutions. "In my opinion, this is actually a good opportunity for researchers to prioritize the development of open research," said the researcher, who was previously a researcher at the Chemical Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Administration

Even though they tended to see the positive side of the work climate in BRIN, the researchers felt there were obstacles in their research. "The main obstacle is the administration that must be taken care of by the researcher. There should be no finance or administration in the research team because everything is centered so it becomes complicated," said Rahma.

In addition, there is often a sudden change in rules so many research proposals and preparations do not run optimally. "Another problem, it turns out that international funding is difficult to enter BRIN. The rules of the donors must be adjusted to BRIN rules. It could be that there are actually components that can be from donors, but they disappear once they enter BRIN, and vice versa," she said.

Cahyo Pamungkas, a research professor in the field of sociology from the BRIN regional research center, said that researchers had to take care of their own administration. "For example, to create an FGD [guided group discussion], researchers must take care of 22 documents. So, administrative management is getting longer and needs more time spent on it," he said.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU MUSTIKA

Delegates from a number of countries listen to officers' explanations during a visit to the Research Institute for Industrial and Refreshing Crops (Balittri), Sukabumi, West Java, Friday (5/8/2022). The visit is one of the agendas in the G20 Technical Workshop on Climate Change which will be held in Bogor, 3-5 August 2022.

Cahyo compared this with when the research group was still under LIPI management. In a research group there was usually a non-research administrative staff. This allowed researchers be more focused on the substance of the research.

Eko Yulianto, the main researcher at the Disaster Research Center, also felt the research funding mechanism in BRIN was difficult. "I am not interested in applying for research funds from BRIN. This year I am conducting research with other sources of funds," he said.

According to Eko, in addition to the small amount of research funds in BRIN, the bureaucracy was also complicated. Researchers must make proposals several times. First, a proposal for material shopping – usually the amount of funds is relatively small – then a proposal is submitted again to go to the field.

"In many cases, material shopping proposals are approved, while the trip to the field is not approved but is still required to produce the promised output. Finally, this leads to withdrawals from the proposals submitted. How do you want to research if field activities are not funded?" he said.

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A similar phenomenon was experienced by Semeidi. He gave an example of one of his research proposals with a team to study a tsunami in Flores, which was approved at the first stage with the target paper. However, the same proposal to request funds to go to the field was rejected. "To make a paper on this study there needs to be a trip to the field," he said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro requested that an evaluation of the fusion of research institutions into BRIN be carried out. He reminded that BRIN has not become a superbody institution because it would extend the bureaucratic chain.

Met on Thursday (11/8/2022), BRIN head Laksana Tri Handoko said the fundamental transition period was currently taking place. "So, the system must be [altered] from top to bottom. The important thing is we must not have a personal agenda. From my experience at LIPI, this process will not take one year," he said.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.