by: Eko Hardianto, S.Pi., M.Si., M.Sc
I am a graduate of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Brawijaya University, Malang in the Water Resources Management (MSP) study program. After being declared a graduate in October 2015, I applied for a Masters in Marine Science (MIK) at Diponegoro University, Semarang. At that time, registration for the Double Degree Program (DDP) was also opened where MIK collaborated with universities in France and universities in Japan. I got information about MIK from MIK alumni who have worked as lecturers at Brawijaya University that at MIK Undip has a Double Degree (DDP) program that allows us to study for 1 year in Indonesia and 1.5 years in Japan or 1 year in France. I am very interested and excited to collect the required requirements and take part in the selection of new student admissions. Finally, I officially became an MIK student in August 2016.
The selection of students who will go to Japan was carried out six months later (February 2017) and I managed to get an LoA in April 2017. To pass the DDP program, we have to fulfill several requirements, besides we have to make a research proposal that is in accordance with the research of the Professor we are aiming for. in Japan there is also an interview session and some other requirements. But that didn’t dampen my spirits. With prayer and effort, Alhamdulillah, I was able to get through it. I left for Japan in October 2017 and continued my remaining study period at the University of the Ryukyus (UR), Okinawa for 1.5 years. Learning at UR focuses more on laboratory activities where every day we are active in lectures we must come to the laboratory and do research. Once a week a progress evaluation meeting is held to find out our progress over the past week and our plans for the next week. This makes us more mature in conducting research and planning research. Even so, lectures were also carried out where while at UR I took a total of 4 courses that supported my research. At the University of the Ryukyus I joined the Faculty of Science, Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science Department and my research was under the guidance of the Associate Prof. Hideyuki Imai. The Imai laboratory has a research field on Genetic population structure of marine organisms.
Another great experience I had was when I attended several International Conferences in Japan. At the event we can learn a lot and also discuss with other researchers from abroad, it is very useful to increase our knowledge. The experience of studying abroad is not only about studying, education and research. But also get to know the culture of other countries. Japan is a country that highly respects its culture. UR has a very interesting Japanese cultural introduction program for foreign students and I joined the program. Through this program I was able to visit various historical cities in Japan such as Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Shiga. It was one of my best experiences there.
I finished my master’s degree in Okinawa in March 2019, from DDP MIK I was able to realize one of my dreams to study in Japan and the knowledge I gained led me to experience extraordinary experiences. I am very grateful to various parties who have supported me, especially the lecturers and managers of MIK Undip for their assistance in various things. MIK Undip has good relations with many universities abroad. Hopefully this can be developed even better and become a means to advance Indonesia.
