Prabowo, Megawati, and 20 Nobel Winners: What Just Happened in Jakarta?

President Prabowo and Megawati engage with global Nobel laureates to drive research, food security, and innovation.

JAKARTA, KalderaNews.com – Indonesian national leaders, President Prabowo Subianto and 5th President Megawati Soekarnoputri, welcomed East Timor President José Ramos-Horta alongside a delegation of Nobel laureates, Turing Award winners, and prominent global scientists in Jakarta on Friday (28/8/2026).

The parallel meetings at Merdeka Palace and the Megawati Institute marked a major step forward for science diplomacy, environmental conservation, and cross-disciplinary research collaboration.

President Prabowo Drives Research Collaboration and Disaster Innovation

At the Merdeka Palace, President Prabowo joined by Coordinating Minister for Human Development Pratikno, Higher Education Minister Brian Yuliarto, Culture Minister Fadli Zon, Vice Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir, and BRIN Head Arif Satria emphasized the importance of direct collaboration between Indonesian academics and top global scientists to elevate national research talent.

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According to BRIN Head Arif Satria, this high-level meeting reflects Indonesia’s Good Neighbor Policy within ASEAN while strengthening domestic scientific capacity.

Key Outcomes from the Merdeka Palace Meeting:

• Knowledge Transfer: Direct engagement between global scholars and local researchers to accelerate scientific breakthroughs.

• Applied Natural Gas Research: Continuing BRIN’s Sister Lab program with Japanese Nobel Chemistry laureate Susumu Kitagawa, focusing on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOF) for low-pressure natural gas storage.

• Conservation Commitments: Strengthening protections for Indonesia’s flora and fauna following the delegatory visit to conservation zones in Lampung.

President Prabowo also stressed the urgency of disaster mitigation technology, given Indonesia’s location on the Ring of Fire.

BRIN showcased its Earthquake-Resistant Modular Home, which successfully withstood earthquakes in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The government is now actively pursuing industrial partnerships to mass-produce these homes at an affordable price for vulnerable communities.

President Prabowo Subianto has requested the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to accelerate collaborations between Indonesian researchers and Nobel laureate scientists. This collaboration aims to strengthen the national research talent and ecosystem while unlocking opportunities to leverage world-class scientific discoveries to address Indonesia’s needs.

Megawati Institute as a Hub for Global Thought and Policy Engagement

Simultaneously, 5th President and BRIN Steering Committee Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, together with President Ramos-Horta, initiated the Luncheon and Discussion with Science for Development Summit Delegation at the Megawati Institute in Jakarta.

Megawati Institute Executive Director Hilmar Farid explained that the forum served as an interdisciplinary dialogue linking cutting-edge science directly to humanity’s most pressing issues including climate change, health, food security, and the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Core Insights from the Megawati Institute Forum:

• Bridging Science and Action: Megawati highlighted that while modern science excels at understanding global crises, translating knowledge into political action remains a major challenge.
• Geopolitics of AI & Technology: The forum raised critical questions regarding technological ownership, equity, and ensuring new technologies benefit developing nations like Indonesia.
• Sukarno’s Scientific Legacy: Rooted in President Sukarno’s philosophy, Megawati reinforced that national self-reliance in science must go hand-in-hand with robust international cooperation.
• Two-Way Knowledge Exchange: Hilmar Farid noted that Indonesia contributes valuable biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and development experience to global scientific discourse rather than merely receiving foreign expertise.

Fifth President of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri highlighted the stark reality of climate change and global warming, emphasizing that its severe consequences extend beyond environmental destruction to directly impact food security, public health, and the livelihoods of millions of Indonesians.

Illustrating the local impact of global ecological damage, Megawati pointed to several recent phenomena across the archipelago—ranging from earthquakes and severe flooding to the anomalous snowfall in Papua and the melting ice layers on Mount Grasberg.

Moving beyond climate issues, Megawati questioned the effectiveness of the United Nations (UN) in resolving ongoing global wars and conflicts. Echoing the vision of her father, Indonesia’s founding President Sukarno, she called for comprehensive UN reforms and a restructured Security Council to better reflect contemporary global realities rather than its post-World War II setup.

Finally, Megawati urged that advancements in science and technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), must be directed toward serving humanity and solving shared human struggles, rather than being exploited as new tools for state hegemony and global power dynamics.

Participating Nobel Laureates, Turing Awardees, and Global Scholars

The Jakarta gatherings brought together an unprecedented mix of experts spanning physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, computing, and peace:

• Nobel Laureates: Frances H. Arnold (Chemistry 2018), Sir Tim Hunt (Medicine 2001), Benjamin List (Chemistry 2021), Robert C. Merton (Economics 1997), Sir Konstantin Novoselov (Physics 2010), Brian P. Schmidt (Physics 2011), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace 2014), James A. Robinson (Economics 2024), José Ramos-Horta (Peace 1996), and Fredrik Jay Ramsdell (Medicine 2025).
• Nobel Organization Representative: David Beasley, former Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP, Peace 2020).
• Turing Award Winners: Jack Dongarra (2021), Whitfield Diffie (2015), Richard S. Sutton (2024), and Gilles Brassard (2025).
• Renowned Global Scientists: Sara Seager (Kavli Prize 2024), Howard-Yana Shapiro (World Food Prize 2015), Torsten Hoefler (ACM Prize in Computing 2019), and Yannis Ioannidis (ACM Fellow).

By opening long-term dialogue channels between world-renowned researchers, political leaders, and Indonesian youth, these historic meetings position Indonesia as an active driver of global scientific solutions.

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