UNS — Twenty-Two Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta students passed the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) Program, a part of Kampus Merdeka program held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbud Ristek). These selected students will study in leading universities abroad for one semester.
These 22 students are from seven faculties: six students from the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), five students from the Faculty of Engineering (FT), four students from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), three students from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science (FMIPA), two students from the Faculty of Medical Science (FK), and each one student from Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP).
In an interview with one of the awardees on Monday (12/7/2021), Rendy Putro Pamungkas selected an exchange program in Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Rendy, from FIB, stated that he selected Universitat Pompeu Fabra because it is known as the best university in Barcelona and even in Spain. Even though considered a young university, Universitat Pompeu Fabra proved its rapid academic achievements and mainly offered international studies. “Among the offered international studies, there are some programs that could accommodate and linear with my focus study in UNS, such as American Study, which includes gender study, media study, and pop culture study,” he stated.
Another awardee, Diva Sarah Radiya, who passed the IISMA selection to Newcastle University, UK, mentioned that the university offered a course linear to her study, Architectural Engineering. “The first reason is the country, then Newcastle offers a course relevant to my study, Architecture. I mostly considered the course that will be recognized by our Semester Credit System (SKS) in the next semester,” the Architectural Engineering student explained.
Diva also shared the selection process that she went through. The process consisted of two-stage, internal selection and national selection from Dikti. Students are required to send foreign language certificates, GPA, and recommendation letter from the faculty in the internal stage. The students then went through the UNS International Office (IO) interview to select the students that will go to the national level. The selection process was similar to the internal selection, document selection, essay, and interview at the national level.
The program was planned to be effective from September to December 2021. Through this program, Rendy hopes to explore the knowledge and get experience from learning in Spain. “I want to expand my views on global culture. Moreover, we have great chances in IISMA. Then the experience, I really expect, because to stay for a semester in a foreign country will bring a lot of fun experiences. Maybe experiences that we couldn’t find in Indonesia,” he hoped. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti