DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY FACULTY OF MIPA INVITES FOREIGN RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS

DEPARTEMENT OF CHEMISTRY, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) University of Bengkulu invites Researchers/lecturers and Foreign Students to carry out activities in the Bachelor of Chemistry and Masters of Chemistry in the 2022 Short Stay Program activities, sources of funding from the Undergraduate and Master in Department of Chemistry. Asst. Prof. Dr. Subhan Salaeh is a Researcher/Lecturer/Practitioner and brings one Master student Miss Puntira Kaoaian from the Department of Rubber Technology and Polymer Science, Prince of Songkla University-Thailand who has activities in the Department of Chemistry for 16 days from 20 October to 4 November 2022. Two students from the Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University-Thailand also have the same activities in the Department of Chemistry from 3 November to 17 November 2022 (15 days). The Masters and Doctoral Program students from Kasetsart University are Miss Laksanaphon Sridawong and Miss Khrongkhwan Yotkuna who are Assoc guidance students. Prof. Dr. Sirikanjana Thongmee.

This activity took place effectively and is expected to be able to contribute to the achievement of several Key Performance Indicators (IKU) for institutions, both Faculties and Universities, IKU-4 lecturers come from professional practitioners, the industrial world or the world of work, IKU-5 regarding the work of lecturers used by the community or get international recognition; and IKU-6 Study Program in collaboration with world-class partners. It is hoped that this activity can also contribute to filling out data on the LAMSAMA accreditation forms for the Study Program and AIPT.

The 2022 Short Stay (SS) Program at the Chemistry Department is directly coordinated by the Head of the Chemistry Masters Study Program, Prof. Dr. Morina Adfa and Head of the Undergraduate Chemistry Study Program Dyah Fitriani, S.Sc., M.Sc with team members Prof. Dr. Sal Prima Yudha, Head of the Chemistry Department Dr. Charles Banon, Deni Agus Triawan, S.Si., M.Sc and Dr. Agus Martono, HP., DEA, and received full support from all Chemistry Department lecturers, Faculty Leaders and Chemistry Undergraduate and Master Students.

While attending the SS Program at the Department of Chemistry-FMIPA, Dr. Subhan Salaeh conducted sharing activities and discussion sessions with chemistry lecturers regarding research and publications. His research focus areas are Rubber Technology, Polymer Processing, and Nanostructured materials. Dr. Subhan has published the results of his research in Scopus indexed International Journals totaling 19 articles with H-index Scopus 11. His latest publication is in ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2022, 4(10), pp. 7463–7475, Q1 Journal is a publication of the American Chemical Society, with the article title Segregated MWCNT Structure Formation in Conductive Rubber Nanocomposites by Circular Recycling of Rubber Waste. Dr. Subhan was also a speaker and motivator at a public lecture held by the Chemistry Student Association FMIPA UNIB with participants from Bachelor of Chemistry and Masters of Chemistry students by presenting 2 topics, the first “Polymer Chemistry especially Rubber Nano composites” and the second topic “Introducing the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand, as well as how to study abroad”. Prince of Songkla University enters 101-150 World University Rankings (WUS) by Subjects, and 171 Asian University Rankings. The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences also invited Dr. Subhan for providing material “How to publish in a reputable journal and build collaboration” as well as a presentation on the results of his group’s research to 4th grade undergraduate students and 2nd level postgraduate students of all Study Programs in our faculty. In the public lecture activities organized by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Miss Puntira also presented the results of her thesis research.

While at the Chemistry Department, Puntira participated in activities with undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry in research discussions and cultural activities. Chemistry students had the opportunity to practice their communication skills in English and there were several students who were interested in Thai, so this activity became a forum for improving the communication skills of Chemistry undergraduate and graduate students.

Dr. Subhan Salaeh and Puntira Kaoaian had the opportunity to take part in the World Class Professor (WCP)-FMIPA satellite activity with the coordinator Prof. Dr. Sal Prima Yudha on 25-27 October 2022. The activities are a Workshop on Publication Strategy, a Teaching Science Workshop, and a One Day Seminar on Science and Technology where in the last two activities Dr. Subhan Salaeh became one of the presenters.

Master’s student Laksanaphon Sridawong and doctoral student Khrongkhwan Yotkuna while at the Chemistry Department carried out collaborative research activities at the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sal Prima Yudha with the theme Development of multifunctional inorganic composites based on Bengkulu natural zeolite. Kasetsart University is included in 53 QS World University Rankings (WUS) by Subjects, and 138 Asian University Rankings. It is hoped that it will be a catalyst to encourage the implementation of research and international publications to a better level in the Department of Chemistry, FMIPA UNIB in particular, and Bengkulu University in general.

Not only carrying out research activities, the two female students also discussed and exchanged information about the culture of the two countries with undergraduate and graduate students in Chemistry. The same activity as 2 (two) Kasetsart University students (Prissana Robkhob, Tanawat Imboon) in 2019. Prof. Sal Prima is with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sirikanjana Thongmee has produced joint publications in the Journal of The Indonesian Chemical Society and the Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis (in 2020).  This collaboration continues until now (2022), by conducting joint research again under funding from LPPM UNIB.

Official closing of the SS program activities at the Department of Chemistry by holding art performances and presentations on Indonesian and Thai culture by Undergraduate Chemistry and Pharmacy students as well as by Prince of Songkla University and Kasetsart University students. During the Closing Ceremony, souvenirs from the Department of Chemistry were also given to guest lecturers and visiting students, where at the beginning of the arrival of the Department of Chemistry, they also received souvenirs from the guests. During their activities at Bengkulu University, all guests were also introduced to Indonesian food and visited tourist attractions in Bengkulu City.

In the future, it is hoped that similar activities will bring a domino effect to internationalization activities in the Department of Chemistry so that they can move more quickly hand in hand with the best universities in Indonesia, Southeast Asia and even the world. The outcome of this activity was an MoU assessment between FMIPA and the Faculty of Science and Technology, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani, THAILAND [Author: Morina Adfa].