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Udayana University, Indonesia established research collaboration with Leiden University, Netherlands!

Following up on the establishment of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHSS) at Udayana University (6 September 2019), on February 13, 2020, Udayana University and Leiden University, Netherlands signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) (including Letter of Intent [LoI] between Leiden University Centre for Linguistics [LUCL] and the Research and Community Service Institute of Udayana [LPPM]), beginning with a collaborative research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (see also here for the news in Indonesian).

Prof. Marian Klamer (left) of the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, and Prof. Dr. dr. A.A. Raka Sudewi, Sp.S (K) (right), the Rector of Udayana University.
Prof. Marian Klamer (left, in red) and Prof. Dr. Ir. I Gede Rai Maya Temaja, MP (right, in black), the head of Research and Community Service Institute of Udayana after the signing of the LoI. At the back are Prof. Dr. dr. A.A. Raka Sudewi, Sp.S (K), the Rector of Udayana University (in Turquoise), and Prof. Dr. Ida Bagus Wyasa Putra, SH.,M.Hum, Vice Rector for the Cooperation and Information affairs (in white)

The impetus of this collaboration is the involvement of Udayana University, through CIRHSS and the Linguistics Graduate Program of Udayana, in the newly established consortium called OCSEAN (Oceanic and South East Asian Navigators). OCSEAN is an ambitious framework for large-scale interdisciplinary research, bringing together 26 institutions across the globe (including Udayana) and researchers from Data Science, Linguistics, Archeology, Anthropology, and Genetics. The consortium aims to re-evaluate our understanding of Austronesian expansion:

The research contextualizes the expansion of the Austronesian language family within the growing evidence for social and political complexity across Island Southeast Asia and coastal mainland regions prior to the arrival of rice and millet agriculture to Taiwan during the mid 5th millennium BP. It also takes into account the rich history of interaction since the spread of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian outside of Taiwan. (http://www.wordsandbones.uni-tuebingen.de/?page_id=3311)

OCSEAN is a four-year project funded by the European Commission (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange, Project Number 873207). As part of this collaboration, six linguists from Udayana University are going to participate in (a fully funded) intensive, 3-month training on language documentation in Leiden University, starting from May until July 2020; they will be affiliated as research partners of the project. Udayana University itself contributes to the Linguistics work package of OCSEAN.

Complete attendants of the MoU and LoI signing. Not visible from previous photos are Dr. I Nyoman Aryawibawa (far left in yellow, the Secretary of CIRHSS and the Vice-Dean of Faculty of Arts), Dr. Made Sri Satyawati (in yellow next to Prof. Klamer, the Dean of Faculty of Arts), and Prof. I Wayan Arka (far right in black, the Director of CIRHSS).

In addition to acting as the Leiden University representative for the signing of MoU and LoI, Prof. Marian Klamer also delivered a guest lecture for CIRHSS and Linguistics Graduate Program at the Faculty of Arts (12 February 2020), followed by lunch with members of CIRHSS Executive, the Dean of Faculty of Arts, the Head of the Linguistics Doctoral Program, and Udayana representatives (see pictures below). Prof. Klamer presented her joint research on morphological simplification and language contact in language communities in Alor and Pantar, Eastern Indonesia.

Lunchtime after Prof. Marian Klamer’s guest lecture, with CIRHSS executive members, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Head of Linguistics Doctoral program, Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Information affairs, and the Head of Research and Community Service Institute.

Below are some other pictures from the MoU/LoI signing and lunch occasions.