Prof. Dr. Drs. Semiarto Aji Purwanto, M.Si. was elected Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (FISIP UI) for the period 2021 – 2025. The FISIP UI professor who is familiarly called Aji briefly explained his vision and mission in his presentation entitled “Building a superior, prosperous and dignified campus. According to him, in carrying the name of a pluralistic Indonesia, FISIP UI should put forward the image of a campus that is nationalist, moderate, tolerant and inclusive. “This idea can be achieved if we work hard to make it happen, among others by transforming UI – which is a Legal Entity State University – to become more oriented towards Entrepreneurial University. Therefore, it requires us to do more networking, have an international outlook, and provide research towards consumers (industry),” said Aji. Aji conveyed his general assessment of the current condition of UI and FISIP UI.
From the academic field, UI’s ranking is superior at the national level based on the version of the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, but in Southeast Asia UI’s ranking is still far from the top 10. The ranking is determined by citations and publications which are weaknesses, caused in terms of the quality and quantity of lecturers. But according to him, FISIP UI is supported by good lecture infrastructure, facilities and infrastructure, namely lecture buildings that are sufficient and there are several rooms that have not been used optimally. He will also increase non-BP income by 40% during his four years in office.
All of these programs, according to him, are derivatives of UI’s vision and mission which he is trying to understand and try to align to make itself a center of excellence in Southeast Asia, as well as becoming a more independent university, namely as an Entrepreneurial University. He said he would identify and create opportunities from collaborative funding with industry. Knowledge products are the main program for FISIP UI. He explained that FISIP UI has qualified human resources, namely lecturers, researchers, and students in conducting social research. He plans to submit research to the main users, namely industry and related state institutions.
Furthermore, Aji explained that there will be three situations in the future that will make socio-political research very necessary. First, the succession of national leadership, the 2024 Election, political campaigns for presidential candidates, governor candidates, legislative candidates who require socio-political data and analysis. He considered this a very open market opportunity. Aji will encourage FISIP UI colleagues to be more aggressive in taking this opportunity, among others, by creating clusters according to each theme. Then secondly, the post-pandemic situation must be anticipated by changing behavior, where Aji will actively offer research collaborations with the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Public Health, and research institutions outside the UI to synergize in conducting research that is medically oriented but has a socio-cultural perspective.
“The third is that we have experienced the world of the Digital Economy which is getting closer to our daily lives. E-commerce, entertainment, and modes of government are encouraged to use the internet,” said Aji. According to him, apart from bringing the digital gap closer, research related to socio-culture is also needed to create content. This condition is a good opportunity to become a content creator, a new profession and also to develop start-ups. From the main program he proposed, called knowledge products, the results were innovative products in the form of patents (Intellectual Property Rights or IPR), policy briefs, joint ventures, start-ups, and curriculum training. All of these products, according to Aji, must begin with an attitude of wanting to collaborate with other sciences and faculties inside and outside FISIP and outside UI. Semiarto Aji Purwanto is a Professor of Anthropology FISIP UI. Currently, he serves as Head of the Anthropology Postgraduate Program. Aji earned his doctorate in anthropology from UI in 2010. His research and interests include environmental studies (forestry, mining, agriculture), ethnicity, health, and the use of information technology. In addition, Aji plays many roles as a facilitator in advocacy processes or planning community-based management programs as well as social impact studies. He received several awards and scholarships, including from the Nippon Foundation for one year research on urban agriculture in the Philippines, 2008-2009; ASEAN fellowship at the National University of Singapore 2007; and the Australian Leadership Award at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 2012; and finally, in 2020, the Taiwan Fellowship for research on cultural policy in Taiwan.
