Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), possessing a goal to be an international reputable university, was rewarded a grant for the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program from the Australian Government on 20 March 2018. UMY was the only private Indonesian university achieving the grant.

Executive Director of Cooperation Affairs of UMY Eko Priyo Purnomo, M.Sc., M.Res., Ph.D. stated that UMY gained the grants after having cooperation in student mobility with Curtin University, Australia for several years. “Due to gaining the grant, the program focusing on school and design as well as business empowerment will be conducted for three years. The program are going to commence on 17 November 2018. Since Australian undergraduate students will learn disaster management in Indonesia, we would like to create a curriculum dealing with activities which they undertake till 2020,” declared Eko in an interview on Thursday (29/3) at A.R. Fachruddin B.

He also informed that we will divided the curriculum into learning processes inside and outside classroom. “In classroom, the students will learn geographical conditions, politics, cultures, and Islamic values Indonesia, while outside classroom we will concern with disaster managements such as predicting disaster-prone areas, disaster management, reducing the number of victims, and evading disasters,” mentioned Eko.

Furthermore, the student mobility program grant will become UMY’s effort to enhance their staff mobility and joint research. “We expect that getting the grants will improve UMY’s reputation, UMY’s students can perceive international learning atmosphere, and the lecturers can be encouraged to boost their international publication,” hoped Eko.