The Department of Biology of IPB Despatched Students for Student Exchange Program 2017 at Kasetsart University, Thailand

In the second year of cooperation, the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Bogor Agricultural University (FMIPA IPB), again dispatched  some of its students to the Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University (KU), Bangkok, Thailand, for Students Exchange Program. The students are Ismail Shaleh, Era Mardiyah, Rara Tiara, and Sissy Nagita Octarya. Their official travel has been covered by the  2017 Student Exchange Program held by the International Program Center (IPC), Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University (KU), Bangkok, Thailand, from 1st August  – 31st December 2017. This program is based on Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between FMIPA IPB and Faculty of Science, KU in 2015, coincided with organization of the 1st International Conference on Biosciences (ICoBio) in Bogor.

The current Students Exchange Program is focused more on research programs for thesis writing, and seminars on the critical steps for successful research: the research proposal and scientific writing of the research results. These programs have been supervised by both IPB and KU. In addition, students have also been attending Thai language classes for two months to facilitate interaction with local residents. Other activities such as study tours and excursions to various tourist attractions and national parks in Thailand will also be provided for them. Of course, they will become interesting activities as part of their of study program.  Different food, language barriers, cultural expectations, culture become their own challenges. This marks the time when those students of IPB begin to adapt to the new culture. They begin to accept the differences around them and the challenges of everyday life. However, that are really worth for them, as they learn, get new experiences and enable them to establish global network with other foreign colleagues while they have been spending for five months in Thailand.

In addition to establish cooperation with Kasetsart University, the Department of Biology has also established some cooperation with various other universities, especially in Europe and Asia. This partnership will enable the Department to despatch other  students for Students Exchange Programs and Research Collaborations in the near future. (Wied)