TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Tuesday, the director of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (BRIN) Laksana Tri Handoko revealed the most crucial problem that Eijkman The Institute of Molecular Biology has been grappling with its status for decades.
“Eijkman’s most crucial issue that has never been resolved since its activation in 1992 – almost 30 years ago – is a status issue,” Laksana told Tempo on January 4, 2022.
Laksana explained that Eijkman was never an official institution and was activated from the start as a project under the Ministry of Research and Technology.
Due to its status, researchers working at Eijkman cannot be appointed official researchers as long as their status remains at the level of administrative staff or project managers.
While still the head of LIPI, Laksana admitted to receiving complaints from Eijkman researchers asking to be appointed researchers. They asked to be appointed researchers in order to obtain their financial rights because being an official researcher would increase their salary.
Because they only get a salary of Rp 6-7million per month. In the meantime, if you become a researcher, the financial rights that can be obtained are Rp. 20 million. “How could they focus on research under these circumstances,” he said.
After being sworn in as BRIN leader on May 4, 2021, Laksana said Eijkman was one of the first places he visited and pledged to present Eijkmanthe status of institution. Due to its status as an institution, it has stated that it is able to promote researchers and provide them with financial rights that they never received.
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FRISKI RIANA