University of Indonesia

The University of Indonesia (Indonesian: Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is an Indonesian public university located in Jakarta and Depok, West Java. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dutch East Indies when UI was established), and is generally considered one of the most prestigious universities in Indonesia, along with the Gadjah Mada University and Bandung Institute of Technology. In the 2024 QS World Universities Ranking, UI is ranked 1st in Indonesia, 49th in Asia and 237th in the world.

History

UI's origins date back to the School of Health Sciences and Vaccines (Opleiding van eleves voor de genees-en helkunde en vaccine) on 2 January 1849 based on a decree from the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. At that time, the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies established a school to train medical assistants. Training lasted for two years, and the graduates were certified to perform basic medicine. Those graduates were awarded the title Javanese Doctor (Dokter Jawa) and were authorised to practice only within the Dutch East Indies, especially Java. The program became more comprehensive; in 1864 it was expanded to three years, and by 1875 it had reached seven years and the graduates were entitled to the degree of Medical Doctor.

The next step came in 1898, when the Dutch East Indies government established a new school to train medical doctors, named STOVIA (School tot Opleiding van Inlandsche Artsen). A school building was opened in March 1902, in a building that is now the Museum of National Awakening. The prerequisite to enter STOVIA was roughly the equivalent of a junior high school diploma. The schooling took nine years, so it was a mix between high school and university education. Education at STOVIA lasted for 9 years: 3 years at junior high school level, three years at high school level, and three years at diploma level. Many STOVIA graduates later played important roles in Indonesia's national movement toward independence, as well in developing medical education in Indonesia.

In 1924, the colonial government decided to open a new tertiary-level educational facility, the RHS (Rechts Hogeschool), to train civilian officers and servants. The RHS would later evolve into the Faculty of Law. In 1927, STOVIA's status was changed to that of a full tertiary-level institution and its name was changed to GHS (Geneeskundige Hogeschool). The GHS occupied the same main building and used the same teaching hospital as the current Faculty of Medicine. Many GHS alumni would later play roles in establishing the University of Indonesia.

After Indonesia gained independence, the Indonesian Institute for Higher Education (BPTRI) was established on 19 August 1945 in Jakarta. BPTRI had two faculties (then called colleges), namely the College of Medicine and the College of Law/Letters. The chairman of BPTRI was Prof dr Sarwono Prawirohardjo. The College of Medicine was officially opened on 1 October 1945. The institute produced its first 90 graduate students as medical doctors in the same year. When the Dutch colonial army occupied Jakarta in late 1945, the BPTRI moved to Klaten, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Malang. On 21 June 1946, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) established the Nood Universiteit or Emergency University at Jakarta. In 1947, the name was changed to Universiteit van Indonesië (UvI) or Universitas Indonesia. Following the Indonesian National Revolution, the government established a state university in Jakarta in February 1950. The name was Universiteit Indonesia, comprising the BPTRI units and the former UvI, which was later changed into Universiteit Indonesia (UI).

Logo and philosophy

The earliest form of the logo of Universitas Indonesia was created in 1952 by Sumaxtono (a.k.a. Sumartono), a student from the 1951 Art Department class, Faculty of Engineering, at the time known as the Fakulteit Teknik Universiteit Indonesia, in Bandung.

The logo is the kala-makara, a symbol of the two sources of energy in nature. Kala is the energy from above (the power of the sun), while makara represents the energy from below (the power of the Earth). The two powers are combined and stylized into a symbol that represents the function of Universitas Indonesia as a source of knowledge.

The logo of Universitas Indonesia carries the following interpretation:

The tree, which includes the buds and the branches, represents science and its branches, implying that the buds will soon flourish and turn into new branches of science. The buds will continue to blossom as long as the main tree is alive. By this, Sumaxtono intended to state that the branches of science will continuously grow.

Water pouring down from the makara signifies the works of science.

The logo design and the meaning it carried were presented to Srihadi (a student from the 1952 class from the same department) in 1952. Prof. KRHT H. Srihadi Soedarsono Adhikoesoemo, M.A. who created the logo of Bandung Institute of Technology, was not sure who authenticated this logo or when. He was sure, however, that it was printed on the cover of the book Universiteit Indonesia, Fakulteit Teknik, Bandung: Rentjana Untuk Tahun Peladjaran 1952-1953 (Universitas Indonesia, Faculty of Engineering, Bandung: Course Plans for Academic Years 1952–1953), published by AID, Bandung, 120 pages, using the original design by Sumaxtono (without the pentagonal border). Each department / faculty has its own color scheme for the logo, for example: red for the Faculty of Law, blue for the Faculty of Engineering, blue-red for the Faculty of Computer Science, and sky blue for the Faculty of Psychology.

Campuses

Salemba Campus

The Salemba campus, located in Central Jakarta, is dedicated mostly to the faculties of Medicine and Dentistry. It adjoins with Cipto Mangunkusumo National Hospital (RSCM) as well as the University Dental Hospital. It houses parts of the postgraduate program, the Faculty of Law (Master of Law Science and Law Science Doctoral Program), Faculty of Economics (Extension and Master of Management programs), the School of Environmental Science (Master of Environmental Science and Environmental Science Doctoral Program), and the Faculty of Engineering (laboratories).

Depok Campus

The Depok campus, in Depok, just south of Jakarta, was built during the mid-1980s to accommodate the modernization of the university. It is now the main campus. Most of the faculties (Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Humanities, Pharmacy, Engineering, Psychology, Humanities, Economics, Social Politics, Law, Computing, Nursing and Public Health) have been relocated here.

The Depok campus is alongside the Jakarta-Bogor commuter railway, offering students easy access to transport by rail. Students also benefit from the frequent commuter bus services connecting many parts of Jakarta to Depok.

Undergraduate teaching of the medical and dental faculties relocated to Depok in 2010.

UI has a main library with a building area of 30,000 m2 and consists of eight floors with the slogan "Crystal of Knowledge". The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday, 1 June 2009 and the construction is targeted to be completed by December 2009. The UI library was designed with the concept of "sustainable building" where energy needs use renewable sources, namely solar energy, and no plastic is used. The new area is smoke-free, green and saves electricity, water and paper. The UI central library will be able to accommodate around 10,000 visitors at the same time or around 20,000 people per day and will also accommodate 3-5 million book titles. The library is also open to the public. The library is also equipped with public facilities such as souvenir shops, dining venues, places of worship, and student support facilities such as photocopying and post offices. Along with the main library, other facilities such as the Student Services Center, Student Activities Center, gymnasium, stadium, hockey field, hotel (Wisma Makara), travel agent and the dormitory are also provided within campus grounds.

Depok campus is home to six lakes which are located across the campus. The lakes are Kenanga Lake, Agathis Lake, Mahoni Lake, Puspa Lake, Ulin Lake, Salam Lake (the initials for which spell "kampus", the Indonesian word for campus).

Facilities

Campus bus

Campus buses are provided free of charge to serve the transport needs of students within the UI Depok campus. However, this bus can be utilised by local residents for free who use the campus bus as a means of transport to connect the Kukusan area with the Margonda area. Among UI residents and locals, this bus is better known as the Yellow Bus (Bikun), shortened word of "Bis Kuning" or "yellow bus". In 2005, Universitas Indonesia had a total of 20 campus buses. They routinely serve 2 routes within the campus on Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM to 17:00. The two routes are the red route and the blue route. Usually, the red line runs clockwise around UI and blue line runs counter clockwise. A bus tracker website called Bikun Tracker, created by university students, keeps track of the movement of the buses for easy navigation.

Campus bike

Since July 2008, Universitas Indonesia has offered a bike rental facility to students through the Yellow Bicycle Programme. For the rent, students need to show their UI student card (KTM) to the rental officer. The bike must be used on bike lanes, and it must be returned to a bike station. The return process is identical to borrowing as students must show their KTM to the guard. Though this has largely been replaced by Beam Mobility Electric bikes.

Others

The Depok campus is served by the on-campus Universitas Indonesia Station and Pondok Cina (outside the campus) stations on the KRL Commuterline rail system, while its Salemba campus is connected with Transjakarta Salemba UI bus station.

Health center

The polyclinic provides free health services for all UI students, including dentistry and orthodontics. There is also a 300-bed hospital called the RSUI (Rumah Sakit UI) or UI Hospital.

Student hall

Salemba Student Hall is one of the facilities under the management of the Students Affairs and Alumni Relationship Deputy. The building is often used for events such as seminars, meetings, etc. With a capacity of 300 people, it can be used by UI students and personnel, as well as rented for public use.

Library

The library at the Depok campus was launched on May 13, 2011. Built on a 33,000m² area, this library is considered the largest library in Southeast Asia. Designed according to a sustainable building concept, the library powers itself with solar energy. It is smoke-free, green, and economical in terms of electricity, water and paper usage. Universitas Indonesia Library has the capacity to accommodate about 20,000 visitors per day and has a collection of 1,500,000 books.

Dormitory

Universitas Indonesia has two student dormitories, one in Depok (Asrama UI) and one in Wismarini. The first dormitory is located on the Depok campus and has 480 men's rooms and 615 women's rooms, with each accommodating one to three persons. The Wismarini dormitory is located at Jl. Otto Iskandar no. 38 Jakarta Timur and has 72 men's rooms and 111 women's rooms. The Wismarini dormitory is only for students who take lectures at the Medicine or Dental faculties and any program held at Salemba campus.

Academics

Faculties

The university consists of 14 faculties, 2 schools, and 1 program providing courses at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels. Some graduate and postgraduate courses are managed by the separate postgraduate program.

Achievements

Christiaan Eijkman (The Director of the Javanese Medical Doctor School, forerunner of the University of Indonesia) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929. He was the first to discover a substance in rice husk, subsequently to be known as vitamin B1, and was also awarded the Prize for his new way of doing research and his method to control diseases caused by vitamin deficiency.

Members and alumni were elected in 2007 to major national academic positions and became members of President Yudhoyono's cabinet as well as the parliament.

It is one of the oldest universities in Indonesia, with its roots going back to the establishment in 1848 of the school for Javanese Doctors.

It is the best Indonesian university according to Globe Asia Magazine 2008.

It was granted the Indonesia ICT Award (INAICTA) 2008 for the best university in Indonesia in terms of Best IT and Infrastructure under the category of Best Content and Application. UI was recognized in INAICTA 2008 as the university with the best access and connectivity.

The best university in ICT in Indonesia and The first champion of Collective Knowledge and Robust Applications, Infrastruktur – The Most Manage Local Node and Managing Excellence for Outstanding Individuals on Telkom Smart Campus (TESCA) 2010

Awarded first prize in the Telcom Smart Campus Award Tesca 2010 for collective Knowledge and Robust Applications.

Student organizations

Universitas Indonesia offers students a wide range of organizational activities, those are:

• The Student Representatives Council (DPM, Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Mahasiswa): the student legislative body at the university level;
• The Student Executive Board (BEM, Indonesian: Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa): the student executive body at the university level and faculty level;
• SALAM UI (Nuansa Islam Mahasiswa Universitas Indonesia); the student Moslem organization at the university level;
• PO UI (Persekutuan Oikumene Universitas Indonesia); the Protestant student organization at the university level;
• SUMA UI (Suara Mahasiswa Universitas Indonesia); the student press organization at the university level;
• KMB UI (Keluarga Mahasiswa Buddhis Universitas Indonesia); the Buddhist student organization at the university level;
• KMK UI (Keluarga Mahasiswa Katolik Universitas Indonesia); the Catholic student organization at the university level;
• KMHD UI (Keluarga Mahasiswa Hindu Dharma Universitas Indonesia); the Hindu student organization at the university level;

The Units for Student Activities constitutes a medium for student activities at the university level with the purpose of developing students' hobbies, interests and talents. They are:

Arts: Marching Band Madah Bahana, Mahawaditra Symphony Orchestra, Paragita Student Choir, Ballroom Dance (Dancesport), Dance Group Krida Budaya, and a Theater Group.

Sports: Equestrian Club, Badminton, Hockey, Volleyball, Soccer, Table Tennis, Tennis, Basket Ball, Swimming, Bridge, Athletic, and Softball.

Martial Art: Silat Merpati Putih, Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Sin Lam Ba.

Others: Islamic Students Association (Salam UI), Ministry of Christian Students (PO UI), Wira Makara Student Regiment Group, Student's Association for Nature, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia Chapter UI (FPCI UI), Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales (AIESEC UI), Eka Prasetya Study Group (KSM Eka Prasetya), Entrepreneurship Club CEDS, English Debating Society (EDS), Catholic Students Assembly, Journalistic Club (SUMA), Students Radio Station (RTC UI), UI Model United Nations Club (UI MUN Club).

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)