The Rector of Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara (UMSU), Prof. Dr. Agussani, MAP, disbursed the first batch of scientific publication incentives for 2025 totaling IDR 1.9 billion to 280 lecturers. The incentive handover ceremony was held at the UMSU Campus, Jalan Muchtar Basri No. 3, Medan, on Saturday (22/11).
The incentives aim to motivate and reward permanent lecturers for their scholarly work. The incentivized outputs include journal articles, conference proceedings, intellectual property rights (IPR), books, journals derived from undergraduate theses, master’s theses, and dissertations, keynote speaker contributions, as well as journal management activities.
Prof. Agussani emphasized that this incentive program reflects the university’s commitment to recognizing lecturers who are actively producing academic work. He also urged all lecturers to remain disciplined in fulfilling administrative responsibilities.
UMSU has now officially subscribed to Elsevier services, including Scopus and ScienceDirect. “We fought hard for this. It is not easy for a university to reach this stage. Out of 162 Muhammadiyah universities in Indonesia, only eight are able to provide this access—and UMSU is one of them,” he stated.
According to the Rector, UMSU’s current achievements are inseparable from a clean, transparent work culture free from transactional practices, reinforcing the university’s ambitious targets in international rankings.
“In 2026, we must be able to maintain our position at 445 in the QS Asia rankings. We must not be overtaken again by other universities,” he emphasized.
He also expressed hope that UMSU’s Scopus-indexed documents would reach 1,000 publications, enabling the university to enter the QS World University Rankings.
Earlier, the Head of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Fitra Zambak, S.T., M.Sc., reported that although some lecturers were unable to attend due to national-level engagements, they were still officially recorded as incentive recipients.
“Alhamdulillah, lecturers’ enthusiasm for research continues to grow. This is evident from the 2025 Higher Education Research Grants, which placed UMSU first in LLDikti Region I with a total of 59 funded proposals,” he explained.
He also noted that over the past five years, UMSU has secured a total of IDR 5.2 billion in research grants, representing a significant increase compared to previous periods.
Improvements in UMSU lecturers’ scientific publications include an increase in Scopus-indexed documents from 631 to 676 as of November 22, 2025; registered Scopus authors rising from 399 to 440; and expanded international collaborations, primarily with partners from Malaysia, the United States, and Thailand. In addition, three UMSU lecturers were recorded as making major contributions to publications in the national science and technology database.
The event continued with a tax socialization session delivered by Associate Prof. Dr. H. Januri, S.E., M.M., M.Si., CMA, who explained changes in the national tax reporting system through the latest Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) KORPTEK platform.
This incentive disbursement serves as tangible evidence of UMSU’s commitment to building a strong academic culture, promoting impactful research, and maintaining its position as one of Indonesia’s leading private universities.
