Universitas Brawijaya (UB) wins a research grant of COVID-19 from United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI).As it is known that the institution disburse funding for 20 grants for a total of 7.5 million poundsterling
The grant is a global project to support people who are prone of being affected by COVID-19 in 20 developing countries.
The head of the UB research team, Dr. M. Faishal Aminuddin said that the scheme is purposed to pay for the projects up to 18 months with the aim of mitigating and addressing health, socio-economic, cultural and environmental impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The output product, apart from being part of academic publications, is also a policy recommendation for the governments of each country,” he said.
In the UKRI GCRF / Newton Fund Agile Response call to address COVID-19 scheme, there are 20 proposals that are funded.
Universitas Brawijaya collaborates with the University of Portsmouth (UoP).
Prof. Saseendran Pallikadavath Principal Investigator from UoP UK said that the research topic that won a grant from UKRI was entitled “Socio-economic and health impact of COVID-19 on international female migrants and their left-behind families in Indonesia”.
Starting from the fact that as many as 80 percent or around 1.3 million international migrant workers are women, this research aims to provide quick policy recommendations regarding the conditions of female migrant workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only those who still live abroad, but also for the families they left behind.
This research will be carried out using sequential mixed methods which interview 600 family members of female migrant workers, more than 90 selected household heads and an online survey of 5,000 migrant workers abroad.
Other stages of activity are interviews with policy makers at all levels of government, consultation with stakeholders and the mass media. All series of activities are expected to be completed in the next 18 months.
In this research, UB involves partners from the central government, which are the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Women and Child Protection and BNP2TKI. From the LSM, there are Migrant Care, and several others at the local level.
Beside involving several institutions, there are several UB lecturers who are involved in it, including Prof. Keppi Sukesi from the Faculty of Agriculture as an expert in economics and gender studies and Dr. Sujarwoto from the Faculty of Administrative Sciences as an expert on public policy and public health.
Vice Rector of Academic Affairs, Prof. Dr. Aulanni’am, hopes that the grant obtained can stimulate the enthusiasm of all UB members to always hone themselves to be able to compete at the international level.
UB facilitates many collaborative activities with partners from abroad through various programs, from visiting professors to support for international research collaborations. [FSL / Humas UB/ Trans. Iir].
