Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara (UMSU) officially signed the 2026 National Higher Education Research Grant (Hibah Dikti) contracts during a ceremony held on Saturday (June 6) in the VIP Room of the UMSU Main Campus on Muchtar Basri Street No. 3, Medan.
The contract signing was led by UMSU Rector Prof. Dr. Akrim, M.Pd., accompanied by Vice Rector I Prof. Dr. Muhammad Arifin, M.Hum.; Vice Rector III Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rudianto, M.Si.; Chair of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Fitra Zambak, S.T., M.Sc.; and representatives of the grant recipients.
A total of 33 UMSU lecturers successfully secured 2026 research grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek), with total funding amounting to IDR 3.1 billion.
In his remarks, Rector Prof. Dr. Akrim stated that this achievement reflects the university’s sustained efforts to strengthen research capacity through training programs, workshops, and research development initiatives.
“We highly appreciate the achievements of our Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM). Going forward, we must also focus on the quality and impact of the publications generated from these research projects,” he said.
According to the Rector, the various research training programs conducted by UMSU have significantly improved the quality of lecturers’ research proposals, contributing to the steady increase in the number of nationally funded research projects.
Prof. Akrim also revealed plans to review the university’s academic workload policy, particularly regarding teaching load reductions for lecturers holding administrative positions, enabling them to devote more time to producing high-quality research.
“We plan to review the teaching credit (SKS) reduction policy for lecturers with structural responsibilities so they can concentrate more on producing impactful research. I believe this will be a positive step,” he explained.
He further emphasized the importance of ensuring that lecturers’ research topics are aligned with the research roadmaps of the university, faculties, study programs, and each lecturer’s area of expertise.
“We hope all research projects will be aligned with the university’s research roadmap, as well as the strategic directions of each study program and academic discipline,” he added.
The Rector expressed optimism that the number of UMSU lecturers receiving nationally competitive research grants will continue to increase in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Vice Rector I Prof. Dr. Muhammad Arifin, M.Hum., stressed that success in obtaining national research grants should be accompanied by an increase in high-quality international publications, particularly those indexed in Scopus.
“We expect these research grants to contribute significantly to increasing UMSU’s Scopus-indexed publication output,” he said.
He also encouraged lecturers to focus on research within their respective areas of expertise, particularly to support career advancement toward senior academic ranks, including full professorship.
Meanwhile, Chair of LPPM, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Fitra Zambak, S.T., M.Sc., congratulated all grant recipients on their outstanding achievement.
“We sincerely congratulate all lecturers who successfully secured the 2026 National Research Grants, totaling IDR 3.1 billion. We hope this accomplishment will inspire other lecturers and encourage greater collaboration and knowledge sharing,” he said.
He explained that every funded research project involves student participation, providing valuable learning experiences and strengthening research-based education at UMSU.
He also noted that the achievement reflects the government’s confidence in UMSU and highlighted the university’s recognition by the Directorate General for its humanitarian contributions in assisting flood victims in Aceh.
The grant contracts were symbolically signed by representatives from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences (FKIK), represented by dr. Tegar Adriansyah Putra Siregar, M.Biomed., Ph.D., and the Faculty of Islamic Studies (FAI), represented by Mutiah Khaira Sihotang, S.E.I., M.A.
