PROF. EKO PRASOJO LEADS THE UI TEAM IN ISLAMIC PUBLIC VALUES RESEARCH COLLABORATION TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC SERVICES
Professor of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (FIA UI), Prof. Dr. Eko Prasojo, Mag.rer.publ., is trusted by the Institute of Innovation and Public Purposes University College London (IIPP UC London) to carry out research collaborations in the field of Islamic Public Values to strengthen public services. This was marked by joint meeting activities involving 30 researchers from 12 countries and the signing of the respective agreement between Prof. Eco with Prof. Wolfgang Johannes Max Dreschler as team leader from IIPP UC London, in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday (23/11).
As the head of the research team from Indonesia, Prof. Eko said, “Later on, this research has an output target in the form of research papers to be published in Book Chapters and several international journal papers. The focus of this research is the values that exist in Islamic boarding schools and other Islamic institutions. In addition, there is also a scholarship available for the Ph.D Scholarship program for three years worth £40,000 and later you will also become a fellow at IIPP UCL for a maximum of two months.”
This research involves prominent scholars in the field of Public Administration, such as Prof. Guy Peters, Prof. Geert Bouckaert, Prof. André Massey, and Prof. Edoardo Ongaro. The IIPP UCL project aims to broaden understanding of indigenous forms of government in the Islamic world, including theory, theology, and practice, to provide a non-Western perspective on public value.
This research collaboration was carried out on the basis of the dominance of the western paradigm in the preparation of policy standards and the science of governance. Thus, this excludes the role of religious values and cultural traditions. This research also aims to discover the importance of policy concepts and new academic values that can later contribute to public institutions and other actors in achieving general goals that are acceptable to the public, such as Islamic public values.
Furthermore, the research collaboration also received funding from the John Templeton Foundation Project worth US$2.1 million with a period of three years. This foundation is one of the organizations headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and has the goal of creating a better and meaningful social life through various research funding activities and other activities across all disciplines.
According to Prof. Wolfgang, collaboration with academics from FIA UI is the right choice. “Universitas Indonesia is a flagship university in Indonesia and has the best Department of Public Administration in Indonesia. Not only that, Indonesia itself is also a country with the largest Muslim population. We are looking forward to further collaboration with UI and Prof. Eko, lecturers and students,” he said.
