The Faculty of Psychology, Diponegoro University (Undip) has been working with the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) since 2021 to conduct research with the title Understanding Consumer Behavior During and Post (Outbreak) COVID-19 Pandemic. The Head of the Research Team from the Faculty of Psychology Undip, Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri, S.Psi., M.Si., Ph.D., said this program was an international collaboration funded by the International Partnership Research Grant (IPRG) from Malaysia. On June 10-12, 2023, Prof. Sawitri visited UMT to conduct a final qualitative data collection in the form of interviews, analysis of quantitative data, and outline drafts of scientific publication manuscripts. The Head of the UMT Research Team, Dr. Nor Amalina Mohamad Zaki, said this collaboration was her first multi-disciplinary project. For his previous research, he was strongly involved in marketing and tourism research. He is very enthusiastic about working on a project with a combined topic, namely marketing, and psychology. This research also supports Sustainable Development Goals number 4, namely Quality Education, to support quality education, and number 17, namely Partnership for the Goals, to establish partnerships in achieving goals.
With the MoA for this research collaboration, the MoU between Undip and UMT has also been signed at the university leadership level, which includes research collaboration, staff exchange, student exchange, and joint supervision of postgraduate students by research. Dean of UMT, Prof. Dr. Suriyani Binti Muhamad, and Deputy Dean of UMT, Prof. Yusliza Mohd Yusoff, who was met separately by Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri, warmly welcomed the further collaboration with all departments under the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Development.
The visit of Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri to UMT, in addition to finalizing collaborative research projects, also expanded the network with lecturers from the Marketing Department and other departments under the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Development, namely the Counseling Department. Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri held a meeting with Dr. Nor Ezdiane Omar, who is the Head of the Counseling Department, and Dr. Siti Salina binti Abdullah, who is the Chair of Counseling and Head of the Counseling Masters Program, to sign a Letter of Intent with the Counseling Department while exploring opportunities from both sides. The planned activities include guest lecture activities, student exchange inbound and outbound, and research collaboration. Furthermore, Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Director of Maritime Logistics and Transport Center, Ts Dr. Mohd Saiful Izwaan bin Saadon, for student’s outbound activities from Malaysia in the summer course held by the Faculty of Psychology Undip in 2024. Prof. Dian Ratna Sawitri also met with Dr. Yulita, an Industrial and Organizational Psychology UMT lecturer, to explore opportunities for collaboration in international seminars.
In the future, more Faculty of Psychology Undip lecturers will be actively involved in expanding the network to other universities in Malaysia to strengthen international networks to support Undip as a World Class University.
