A Reason to be Optimistic About Science in Indonesia
The next generation of Indonesian world-class scientists will enlighten us as to why we should root for science in Indonesia.
Let’s be honest: we Indonesians do not automatically associate our country with science. We are more likely to talk about our cultural heritage and natural wealth when we talk about Indonesia, among ourselves and to people from different countries.
We also tend to think of science as being more closely associated with wealthy, developed countries that produce highly technological machinery and do projects whose results will be enjoyed by their own people. We do not immediately visualise Indonesians, especially those of lower-middle economic status, as the beneficiaries of scientific progress.
Science may not be Indonesia’s strongest suit–yet. We know that we are not productive when it comes to scientific publications (Indonesia is ranked 57th out of 239 countries, below India, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan). One of the reasons is perhaps that, collectively, we do not spend a lot on research and development. With 0.08 percent of GDP expenditure going to research and development, Indonesia is ranked 115th out of 133 countries.
But this does not mean the picture is all bleak. Most science enthusiasts in Indonesia would probably have heard about Sangkot Marzuki who revived the Eijkman Institute and led it from 1992 to 2014.
Since the early 20th century, the Eijkman Institute (named after Christian Eijkman, a Nobel laureate who discovered vitamin B) was renowned for researching tropical medicines. Unfortunately, in 1960 the Government shut it down due to political turmoil.
By the 1990s, Sangkot was already known as a world-class scientist at Monash University, Australia, doing ground-breaking research in molecular biology. He was awarded a higher doctorate in 1998 in recognition of his Magnum Opus on human diseases caused by defective energy metabolism.
He received a fax in August 1990 that changed both his life and the history of science in Indonesia. The fax was from B. J. Habibie, then the minister of research and technology, who tried to persuade Sangkot to return to Indonesia. On the condition that he would have full support to open up a molecular biology research centre, Sangkot agreed and came back to Jakarta.
Sangkot’s directorship ended in 2014 and today he is the chairman of Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia or the Indonesian Academy of Science. Apart from being an outstanding scientist, Sangkot is credited with building an institution that continues to thrive today. Since 2014, researchers from the Eijkman Institute have published around 130 papers in reputable international science journals.
Malaria is an excellent example of how Sangkot has successfully nurtured the next generation of world-class scientists. Staying true to its mission to “translate the findings of research for the benefit of the Indonesian community”, the Eijkman Institute has a unit actively doing research on malaria, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Why malaria? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA estimates that every year 10,000 people die from malaria in Indonesia. Malaria is preventable and treatable, but its parasites and their mosquito vectors constantly evolve–and malaria can develop a resistance to insecticides and vaccines. The Eijkman Institute has been conducting important studies to better our understanding of malaria control and elimination.
Rintis Noviyanti, a senior research fellow from the Eijkman Institute, is the principal investigator on malaria. Having graduated with a BSc in Biology from the University of Indonesia, and with a PhD in Molecular Biology of Malaria Parasites from the University of Melbourne, she has spent her working life researching malaria.
“I am so proud that there are increasingly many young university graduates who are interested in becoming researchers in the Eijkman Institute,” Rintis said.
Her interest in understanding the parasite’s genetics, as well as the host response to malaria infection has allowed her to receive international competitive grants, including the Scientific Program Indonesia-Netherlands (SPIN)-KNAW in 2007 and the Endeavour Australia Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, also in 2007. Over the last three years, she has been linked to various institutions in Australia, the UK and the US.
Rintis has received many prestigious awards and internationally competitive grants, including funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Malaria Transmission Consortium-UNICEF and from the Asia-Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) to build a database on Plasmodium genetics in Indonesia.
Her plan to catalogue the genetic signatures of malaria parasites has linked her with scientists from Oxford University, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK and the Menzies School of Health Research (MSHR) in Darwin, Australia.
In researching the development of a malaria vaccine and understanding immunity to malaria, Rintis also received support from the Australia-APEC Women in Research Fellowships and the Australia Alumni Grant Scheme, both in 2015, to work closely with scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne and MSHR in Darwin. The results of this research will be shared with the Indonesian Ministry of Health for formulation and implementation of a more effective malaria control and elimination program.
Rintis is just one example of many reasons why we can be optimistic about science in Indonesia. We have the next generation of world-class scientists doing consequential research that can benefit ‘regular’ Indonesians.
But we should not stop at just being an optimistic observer. We need to act more like an enthusiastic cheerleader and praise the advancement of science in Indonesia; we need to voice our appreciation for those making progress, and celebrate science’s small victories in bettering the lives and living conditions of all people in Indonesia.
