Research Ambassadors

Research Ambassadors are senior academicians and scientists who have a long-standing relationship with Germany. As DAAD or Germany alumni, they have studied or carried out research in Germany and know the German higher education system through their own experience.

Research Ambassadors are interested in promoting research in Germany among peers and students. They act as the contact person at their university for advanced students and academics interested in doing research in Germany, hold information events and can provide you with up-to-date information materials.

Feel free to get in touch with one of our Research Ambassadors to get insights into the German research landscape.

Prof. Dr. Heri Kuswanto

Professor in Computational Statistics
Laboratory of Computational Statistics and Data Science, Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS)

Email: heri_kstatistika.its.ac.id

Research Interests: computational statistics (machine learning), econometric forecasting, weather and climate modelling

University/Research Institution in Germany: Leibniz University Hannover (2006-2009)

Heri Kuswanto is a professor at the Department of Statistics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya. He is also an active researcher at the Center for Disaster Mitigation and Climate Change – ITS. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Institute of Statistics, Leibniz University Hannover in 2009, supported by a DAAD scholarship. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Laval University, Canada, for a year. In his research, he has been focusing on computational statistics (machine learning), weather and climate modelling, econometric forecasting. He is still maintaining a research collaboration with his former PhD supervisor at Leibniz Hannover University. Moreover, he has been granted many international research grants to foster international collaborations, including Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and USAID, from 2013-2015 and 2017-2019; DECIMALS Project (2018-2020; 2021-2022), funded by The World Academy of Science (TWAS), and UNESCO.

Prof. Heri Kuswanto is currently an active committee at the Indonesian Statistician Association (ISI) as well as an Honorary Member of Statistical Forum (Forstat) Indonesia. Heri Kuswanto has been awarded Most Outstanding Lecturer at ITS in 2013. He has been promoted as a Full Professor in 2020 at the age of 38 years old and is currently the youngest professor in ITS. Prof. Heri Kuswanto is now the Director of Postgraduate Programmes and Academic Development in ITS. Please feel free to contact him concerning study and research opportunities in the field of statistics and economics in Germany.

Prof. Dr. Iwan Rudiarto

Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang

E-Mail: iwan.rudiartopwk.undip.ac.id

Research Interests: rural-regional planning and development, land management

University/Research Institution in Germany: TU München (2003-2005); Universität Hohenheim (2007-2010)

Iwan Rudiarto is an Professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP). He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UNDIP, Indonesia, in 1998. He received an M.Sc. in Land Management and Land Tenure from Technical University Munich in 2005 and his PhD from Universität Hohenheim in 2010, both with DAAD scholarships. His research focus is on rural livelihood resilience, climate-related disaster and planning, and rural transformation.

Currently, he is teaching and supervising students in Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral programmes in urban and regional planning at UNDIP. He is actively involved in the Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (GCSMUS) as an advanced researcher and representative of Indonesia. GCSMUS is one of twelve Excellence Centers for Exchange and Development (exceed), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via the DAAD. With its coordination base at the TU Berlin, it connects close to 50 partners from eight world regions. Moreover, Dr. Rudiarto established linkage Master’s programmes between UNDIP and three German universities: TU Muenchen, TU Darmstadt, and TU Berlin. He is also president of the Indonesian Planning School Association (IPSA), which covers all Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral programmes in Urban and Regional Planning in Indonesia.

Dr. rer. medic. Muhammad Ichwan

Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan

E-Mail: m.ichwanusu.ac.id, mhd.ichwangmail.com

Research Interests: Herbal medicine / natural products, neuroregeneration, neuroplasticity

University/Research Institution in Germany: Technische Universität Dresden (2009 -2016)

Dr. Muhammad Ichwan serves as the current Programme Director of the Master’s Degree Programme in Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU). He received his doctoral degree at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) at TU Dresden. His study focused on the effects of apple extract to promote adult hippocampal neurogenesis. He has been continuing his research in the field of neurogenesis and cognitive neuroscience and the use of medicinal plants in Indonesia, supported, among others, with internal grants from Universitas Sumatera Utara and the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.

Dr. Muhammad Ichwan is actively involved in the Indonesian Consortium of Biomedical Sciences (KIBI) and the Indonesian Pharmacologist Association (IKAFI). He is also engaged in the University of Indonesia’s Greenmetric Programme, especially in the field of waste management, and conducts community service activities aiming at improving the management of household organic waste by using the larvae of black soldier flies.

Dr.-Ing. Rudi Kurniawan

Lecturer, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh

E-Mail: kurniawanunsyiah.ac.id

Research Interests: signal processing, parallel manipulators, multibody systems, and multi domain simulation.

University/Research Institution in Germany: University of Duisburg-Essen (2006-2009, 2011-2017)

Dr.-Ing. Rudi Kurniawan received his master’s degree from the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2009 and completed his doctorate at the same university in 2017. He specialized in mechatronics with a focus on parallel manipulators. His master studies were supported by a DAAD scholarship; for his doctorate, he received a DAAD-Aceh Scholarship of Excellence.

After finishing his studies in Germany, Rudi Kurniawan returned to Universitas Syiah Kuala and has been working at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering as well as the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center.

Prof. Der. rer. nat. Kartika Senjarini

Professor in Molecular Biology in, Department Biology, Faculty Mathematics & Natural Sciences, Universitas Jember

E-Mail: senjarini@unej.ac.id

Research Interests: molecular study of the interaction between mosquito vectors and their human host

University/Research Institution in Germany:

Universität Rostock
Universität Kassel

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Kartika Senjarini is a lecturer in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Jember, Indonesia. She completed her PhD (Dr. rer. nat) at the University of Rostock-Germany, with a DAAD scholarship in 2007. She was also a DAAD postdoctoral fellow at the University of Kassel in 2010. In 2011, under the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education program, she had the opportunity to deepen vaccinology at the International Vaccine Institute, Seoul – South Korea.

Prof. Senjarini is a senior scientist in the Vector Biology research group within her department. The research focus is on the molecular study of the interaction between mosquito vectors and their human host with the main objective of molecular surveillance and development of vector-based vaccines against malaria and dengue. She was one of the initiators of the Indonesian-German Network for Teaching, Training and Research (IGN-TTRC) and also a UNEJ’s project coordinator of the DAAD subject-related based partnership between the University of Jember and the University of Applied Sciences Flensburg, Germany from 2015-2022. In 2009, she was awarded the “L’oreal – UNESCO, For Women in Science Program” in the field of life sciences. Currently, she is a UNEJ’s project coordinator of 2 on-going international grants i.e. Erasmus+ KA171 Grant funded by EU & DAAD since 2023, as well as PACE UP (PAN ASEAN Coalition for Epidemic and Outbreak Preparedness), 1 out of 4 Global Centres in Health funded by DAAD since 2022.