Budi or Beasiswa Unggulan Dosen Indonesia Dalam Negeri (Indonesian Lecturer’s Scholarship) is a Doctoral scholarship programme managed by the Directorate General of Resources for the Ministry of Research, Science, Technology and Higher Education.

The Budi Scholarship is funded by the LPDP (Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education) which provides scholarships for Master’s and PhD programmes both in-country and abroad. However both differ in terms of:

1. Participants: Budi is intended only for permanent Indonesian lecturers from state and private universities under the ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education supervision.
2. Degree: Budi only covers 3 years of Ph.d / Doctoral programme with a possibility of another 1 year extension.
3. University list: Budi applicants have more University choices (Top 500) compared to LPDP applicants (Top 200).
4. Education background: Lecturers from any educational background can apply for a Budi Scholarship as long as they have a Nomer Induk Dosen National (Lecturer National Identity Number).
5. Letter of Acceptance: LPDP applicants can apply without a LoA while Budi applicants need to have an unconditional LoA prior to the registration process.

The British Council recently met Dr John I. Pariwono, Coordinator of Overseas Scholarships, Directorate of Resources for Science Technology and Higher Education. Findings from the meeting were that:

 37% of Budi awardees went to the UK and Europe, followed by 22% to Australia and New Zealand. Overall, the UK is the applicants’ first choice of destination in the European category.
 For the 2018 intake, the maximum quota will be 150 students for overseas Universities.
 There will be two intakes in 2018.
 Starting from 2018, there will be no more family allowances given to the scholarship awardees. The ministry will only cover tuition fees and a living allowance.
 The ministry will provide English training for applicants to prepare them for IELTS. Currently this activity is held in Institut Teknologi Bandung (Bandung Institute of Technology), Universitas Negeri Malang (State University of Malang) and Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (State University of Yogyakarta).
 The percentage of applicants from Java were significantly higher compared to outside Java. The ministry is encouraging more applicants from outside Java for the 2018 intake.

Commentary by Audrie Adriana Sanova, Programme Manager, British Council Indonesia (audrie.sanova@britishcouncil.or.id)

Based on our discussion with Dr Pariwono, we found that there is a strong interest from Indonesian lecturers to continue their doctoral degrees in UK and Europe. Last intake, there were approximately 37% who went to the UK and Europe. In fact, overall the UK is the number one choice of destination.

The ministry is also very keen to have more lecturers applying for PhDs in the UK compared to other countries. This is because the length of doctoral study in the UK is 3 years which is similar to the length of study that the ministry covers for tuition fees and living costs.

The implication for UK institutions is therefore that recruitment of candidates for doctoral degrees may be possible. When visiting local universities it may also be possible to raise the possibility of university staff recruitment.

Source:
British Council internal meetings with Dr John I. Pariwono, Coordinator of Overseas Scholarship, Directorate of General of Resources for Science Technology and Higher Education of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education.