Bandung, UPI
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) continues to expand its global academic footprint by strengthening international collaboration through the Promoter Collaboration Enhancement Program (Program Penguatan Kolaborasi Promotor/PKP) and the International Publication Quality Improvement Program (Program Peningkatan Kualitas Publikasi International/PKPI) at the University of Canberra (UC), Australia. These initiatives are part of the PMDSU (Pendidikan Magister Menuju Doktor untuk Sarjana Unggul/Master’s to Doctoral Education Program for Outstanding Graduates) scheme funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.
As part of the program, UPI doctoral student in Mathematics Education and PMDSU Batch VII awardee, Nur Riski Hasanah, together with her supervisor Prof. Turmudi, participated in a series of academic and research activities at UC’s Faculty of Education and the STEM Education Research Centre (SERC). The PKP program ran from December 9–22, 2025, while the PKPI program is scheduled to continue until March 8, 2026.
Throughout the program, the UPI delegation actively engaged in research discussions, academic meetings, and scientific presentations alongside UC lecturers, researchers, and doctoral students. Associate Professor Sitti Maesuri Patahuddin, Ph.D. served as the key collaborator, facilitating intensive activities, particularly in introducing the STEM research ecosystem and optimizing the use of SERC facilities.
A key highlight occurred on Thursday, December 11, 2025, when the delegation met with SERC Director Professor Ilyse Resnick, who presented findings from a Discovery Grant project focused on developing spatial reasoning through educational games. This discussion opened pathways for future linkage grants and deeper research collaboration between UPI and UC.
The academic exchange also involved prominent UC scholars, including Prof. Deborah Pino Pasternak, Dr. Holly Tootell, Lucy Bennett, and Nicola Kovacs, who explored various issues in mathematics and STEM education. Topics ranged from self-regulated learning and teacher self-efficacy to the development of programs for gifted and talented students.
During the research presentation session, Nur Riski Hasanah presented her dissertation on developing an integrated STEM learning model based on ethnomathematics. Meanwhile, Prof. Turmudi emphasized the importance of meaningful, contextual mathematics learning that connects directly to real-life experiences.
This initiative aligns closely with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4: Quality Education, by strengthening research and enhancing the capacity of educational human resources, as well as SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals, through fostering strategic collaboration between Indonesian higher education institutions and international partners. Such cross-border academic collaboration is expected to contribute significantly to the advancement of sustainable education and the overall quality of research.
The program reached its peak on December 18, 2025, with a high-level meeting involving UC Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education Janet Smith, Indonesian Education Attaché in Australia Prof. Yuli Rahmawati, and the UPI delegation. The meeting focused on strengthening strategic UC–UPI cooperation, exploring opportunities for joint academic programs, and outlining follow-up plans through Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) and Agreements (MoA).
Beyond academic activities, the PKP and PKPI programs also emphasized social and cultural engagement, including interactions with the Indonesian community in Canberra and academic visits to several institutions across Australia. These efforts further reinforce UPI’s position as a globally engaged university actively contributing to the development of education and research on an international scale. (Ajeng)