"It is intended that through this academic collaboration, ITB and Unpad will be able to provide added value to students by allowing them to obtain knowledge in areas other than their core competencies, as well as provide opportunities for students to learn to collaborate," stated Dr. Techn. Arief.

The program, which was started by ITB's Rector and Unpad's Chancellor, is part of a larger collaboration in the sectors of education, research, and community service. This initiative is also part of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology's “Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka” Program.

The Directorate of Education of ITB and its partners from Unpad are in charge of coordinating cross-campus lecture collaboration. "The collaboration will take two forms," Dr. Arief explained, "student exchange and academic activities in research and community service activities."

ITB and Unpad students will be able to take courses from both campuses as part of the initiative, which will begin in the first semester of the next 2021/2022 academic year.

"In the first semester of 2021/2022, ITB offers 82 courses to Unpad students, whereas Unpad has already created an inventory of 111 courses for ITB students," Dr. Arief said. More specific information on the “Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka ITB - UNPAD Semester I 2021/2022” Program, as well as the list and contents of UNPAD courses, can be found at https://linktr.ee/merdekasiswa.itb.

According to Dr. Arief, Unpad students will be registered as ITB non-regular students, and vice versa, as part of this academic partnership program. ITB students will receive a transcript from Unpad after the lecture, which will be reported to the study program for credit transfer recognition from ITB. All students are welcome to participate in this program at no cost.

ITB and Unpad students will participate in numerous research and community service initiatives at these two universities, in addition to academic activities. In the 30 accessible research and study centers, ITB and Unpad lecturers and students will collaborate.
In this “Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka” Program, roughly 1,000 students are expected to participate in one of the events.

Meanwhile, up to 300 students from these two state universities will participate in various research and community service initiatives.
The official launching of this initiative is scheduled for August 17, 2021, to coincide with the Republic of Indonesia's independence day. "It is hoped that this activity will occur every semester and that more students would participate," Dr. Arief added.

Reporter: Adi Permana
Translator: Sekar Dianwidi Bisowarno (Bioengineering, 2019)