BRIN Invites Universities, Independent Researchers to Apply for RIIM International Co-Funding
- BRIN has introduced RIIM Collaboration, a co-funded international research program partnering with agencies in Japan, China and Malaysia.
- The scheme is open to researchers beyond BRIN, including universities and independent organizations, with projects spanning energy, agriculture, biodiversity and more.
- Funded examples include safer autonomous-vehicle algorithms, elephant grass for energy and feed pellets, and enzyme engineering for bioproduction and pollutants.
Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) on Wednesday (Feb. 11, 2026) launched a new co-funded international research scheme, opening opportunities for Indonesian researchers to submit proposals under the BRIN Danapedia Research and Innovation Funding Scheme for an Advanced Indonesia (RIIM) Collaboration program.
BRIN Deputy for Research and Innovation Facilitation Agus Haryono stressed that the opportunity is not limited to BRIN researchers. Scientists and innovators from universities as well as independent organizations are also eligible to apply.
“All collaborative funding is open to anyone — not only for BRIN research, but also for universities. We don’t look at the level; what matters is whether they have adequate potential to conduct the research,” Agus said during a Media Lounge Discussion (Melodi) at BRIN’s B.J. Habibie Building in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (Feb. 11, 2026).
“Even independent institutions can submit proposals. So it’s not exclusive to BRIN — it’s for all research and innovation actors,” he added.
Opportunities for international collaborative research funding
Agus said the RIIM Collaboration scheme is built on co-funding arrangements with research funding agencies abroad. BRIN’s partners include the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Malaysia’s Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
Previously, 84 domestic institutions and universities have received funding, involving 119 overseas institutions and university research bodies across 130 research activities.
Agus noted that the 130 ongoing projects span several priority areas agreed with partner agencies, including energy, structural biology, agriculture and Indonesia’s biodiversity.
Dr. Muhammad Zaki Almuzakki (third from left), one recipient of international collaborative research funding. Photo: Siti Nur Salsabilah Silambona
Lecturers and campus-based researchers — from both private and public universities — are among those involved in the projects. One of them is young researcher and computer science lecturer at Pertamina University, Muhammad Zaki Almuzakki.
“I’m honestly grateful, because the competition for BRIN funding is very fair. You don’t have to be a professor or come from a particular background. I finished my PhD two years ago, but I still had the same opportunity — I could compete on the same level with other researchers — and that’s really exciting,” he said.
With RIIM Collaboration funding from MOST China, Zaki and his team are developing an algorithm intended to help unmanned vehicles reduce accidents. He said the technology could later be applied to Indonesia’s logistics sector to improve efficiency while supporting a transition toward greener energy in a 10-year roadmap.
Meanwhile, BRIN agricultural and food researcher Yantyati Widyastuti secured RIIM Collaboration funding through MIGHT Malaysia. She proposed using elephant grass in both countries — as an alternative energy source to replace fossil fuels in Malaysia, and as pelletized cattle feed in Indonesia that can be shipped more easily across regions.
“We will collaborate and discuss how to improve the growth of each elephant grass variety in our respective soils, in our respective countries, using formulas from our own biofertilizers,” she said.
“Then once it grows well and we harvest it, we will make pellets,” she added.
In the health sector, BRIN health researcher Yudhi Nugraha Nugraha received RIIM Collaboration funding through JST Japan. His team is working on enzyme engineering related to bioproduction and pollutants.
He said the research had already begun earlier, and that the proposal laid out what was needed to scale it up.
Agus expressed hope that the international collaboration scheme would help more Indonesian researchers engage at the global level while delivering tangible benefits for national development.
“It’s for strengthening our researchers’ capacity, and also for improving achievements in this research field,” he said.
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