Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation and ties with the Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Indonesia. 

The agreement outlines their mutual commitment, through a foundational five-year framework, to establish future exchanges, academic cooperation, and teaching collaborations, with a specific focus on Islamic finance. It was recently formalized by the institutions’ respective signatories, Professor Dr. rer.nat. Sajidan, vice-rector, UNS, and Dr. Emad El-Din Shahin, dean of the College of Islamic Studies (CIS), HBKU. 

The MoU will enable HBKU and UNS to develop links in teaching and learning through mutually agreed activities such as workshops and seminars. Other priorities are student and faculty exchanges, as well as joint or collaborative research projects.

HBKU CIS, as a leading academic hub for Islamic finance, offers Master’s and PhD programs in Islamic finance, and its distinguished research infrastructure includes the Center for Islamic Economy and Finance, which drives industry-led academic dialogue through its research activities. As for its newest institutional partner, UNS is one of the top public universities in Indonesia, with 11 faculties, a vocational and postgraduate school covering law, engineering, economics and business, and other areas. It also hosts the UNS Fintech Center, a premier innovation hub whose mission to produce and disseminate academic and applied research in this nascent field perfectly aligns with CIS. 

Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, rector at UNS, said: “We believe that this agreement will be mutually beneficial as we leverage our joint potential to engage in research and teaching collaborations. We hope to work closely with HBKU’s CIS to develop innovative, collaborative education projects that strengthen our efforts at UNS to be an eminent university at the international level, pursuing research in science, technology, arts, and the economy that keeps pace with interdependent and complex global change.”

Commenting after the signing, Dr. Emad El-Din Shahin, dean at CIS, said: “We are pleased to begin this journey with Universitas Sebelas Maret and formally cement our relationship through the MoU. Our institutions are not strangers to each other, having organized various joint academic activities already in the area of finance. This MoU will only strengthen this commitment to develop academic scholarship and research dissemination in this field, and we look forward to various such opportunities ahead.”

For more information on the extensive activities in the field of Islamic finance at the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU, please visit: cis.hbku.edu.qa