Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris, Professor of Geophysics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), as well as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, UI, was inaugurated as Director General (Dirjen) of Higher Education, Research, and Technology (Diktiristek) replacing Prof. Ir. Nizam, M.Sc., DIC, Ph.D., IPU, ASEAN.Eng, on Friday (03/15/2024), at Graha Diktiristek, Kemendikbudristek Complex, Building D, 2nd Floor, Jakarta.

The inauguration, led directly by the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, B.A., M.B.A., was attended by, among others, UI Chancellor Prof. Ari Kuncoro, IPB University Chancellor Prof. Arif Satria, S.P., M.Si., Ph.D, vice chancellors, university secretaries, and deans from UI, Saleh Husin (Minister of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia for the 2014–2016 period), and other invitees.

The appointment of Prof. Haris as Director General of Higher Education, Research and Technology is based on Presidential Decree of the Republic of Indonesia Number 20/TPA of 2024 concerning the Appointment of Middle-Level High-Level Officials within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. He replaces Prof. Ir. Nizam who previously served as Acting Director General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology.

Minister Nadiem in his speech said that today’s inauguration is closely related to the efforts to transform the Indonesian education system carried out through the Merdeka Belajar program. Thanks to the breakthrough of Kampus Merdeka, Indonesia has succeeded in sending thousands of students to study outside campus to prepare college graduates who are globally competitive. Entering the fifth year of the program, he hopes that the mutual cooperation and collaboration that have been established can be even stronger to ensure the sustainability of this movement.

“To Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris who was inaugurated today as Director General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology, I hope that you will continue to improve your performance and professionalism to accelerate the improvement of the quality of our higher education. I greatly hope that you can support, facilitate, and ensure the sustainability of the implementation of the Independent Campus. Continue to encourage campuses throughout Indonesia to achieve the eight main performance indicators so that our universities can enter the ranks of World Top Universities,” said Minister Nadiem.

He also said that in 2024, the Directorate General of Higher Education will organize a State University Revitalization Program to encourage the improvement of the quality of higher education and accelerate the transformation of State Universities (PTN) into Public Service Agency (BLU) PTN and Legal Entity (BH) PTN. Therefore, he hopes that Prof. Haris as the Director General of Higher Education can lead the implementation of the priority program as well as possible.

Position History Prof. Dr. rer. Nat. Abdul Haris

Prof. Haris was born in Pemalang, Central Java on September 21, 1970. He started his career at FMIPA UI, by carrying out the mandate as Secretary of the Master of Physics Study Program (Prodi) in 2004. In the same year until 2008 he was appointed as Manager of Research and Community Service. Then in 2008 – 2012, he was entrusted as Secretary of the Faculty by the Dean of FMIPA UI who at that time was held by Dr. Adi Basukriadi, M.Sc.

His success in leading units within the FMIPA UI environment during his previous term of office, accompanied by a strong leadership spirit, made his career at FMIPA UI increasingly improve, until the first child of six siblings held the position of Dean for two terms, namely in 2014 – 2019 and 2018 – 2019.

In the UI Chancellor Election for the 2019-2024 period, he also ran as a candidate with the vision of “Developing and transforming the University of Indonesia into a leading university at the global level while maintaining the values ​​of the University of Indonesia”.

This vision is explained through the HARIS for UI program, namely Human Capital, Acceleration, Reform, Integration, and Sustainability. He said that UI has a big role because it is the best university in Indonesia and is a teacher of the nation.

In the voting stage by the Board of Trustees (MWA), Prof. Abdul Haris received 7 votes, Prof. Budi Wiweko 0 votes, and Prof. Ari Kuncoro was elected with 16 votes. He was then appointed by Prof. Ari Kuncoro as Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation until 2020.

Then on October 21, 2020, Prof. Abdul Haris was assigned to become the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs replacing Prof. Rosari Saleh.

Active in research activities and creating innovative products

In addition to holding structural positions, the graduate of the Geophysics Study Program at the University of Kiel, Germany is also active in producing various innovative research products. Some of his works even have Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), including Thin Reservoir Pore Volume Mapping Software in Oil and Gas Exploration; Computer Program (Software) for Converting Hard Copy Seismic Images into Seismic Data; Geophysical Applications for Oil and Gas Reservoir Characterization; Geophysical Computing Applications; and Computer Program (Software) for Microtremor Seismic Data Processing. The sciences he developed are the results of the implementation of the education he has taken so far, namely Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physics at UI, and Doctorate in Geophysics at the University of Kiel, Germany. Meanwhile, his professorship in the Field of Geophysics was obtained from FMIPA UI in 2019.