Indonesia’s Universities and the Quiet Turn to Debt: Why the Outcry Came Late

Indonesia’s latest regulation allowing state universities with legal autonomy to take on debt has triggered a predictable backlash. Critics warn of creeping commercialisation, higher tuition fees, and the erosion of universities as public goods. Yet the real puzzle is not why the policy is controversial, but why the controversy arrived so late. The Permendiktisaintek No. 1/2026 regulation, which formalises borrowing procedures for Perguruan Tinggi Negeri … Continue reading Indonesia’s Universities and the Quiet Turn to Debt: Why the Outcry Came Late

Ilham A. Ridlo26 Feb 20266 Mar 2026Leave a comment

Notes from the Host

In Scientific Publishing, Who Should Foot the Bill?

January 7, 2026 by Peter Andrey Smith In the spring of 2024, Ali Kharrazi, then an editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, or CRSUST, received a routine request to review several papers. Although guest editors had already recommended accepting the work, something unusual stood out. One of the papers included the phrase: “The way to foster love is by cultivating disruption.” … Continue reading In Scientific Publishing, Who Should Foot the Bill?

Ilham A. Ridlo15 Jan 202618 Feb 2026Leave a comment

Notes from the Host

It’s a Precondition: There is No Public Health Without Peace

Global conflict profoundly disrupts the structural and functional capacity of public health systems. Between 2023 and 2025, major theatres of violence and instability created conditions in which disease, famine, displacement, and infrastructure collapse flourished, often in tandem. Public health collapses when war persists. Armed conflicts have systematically dismantled health systems, accelerated disease transmission, and produced excess mortality that far exceeds battlefield deaths. Evidence from multiple … Continue reading It’s a Precondition: There is No Public Health Without Peace

Ilham A. Ridlo6 Jan 202628 Feb 2026Leave a comment

Notes from the Host

Global Science Kaleidoscope 2025: More Than Individual Scandals, This Is a Structural Crisis

The year 2025 marks a significant point in the global timeline of research integrity. Rather than being triggered by a single spectacular scandal, discussions of scientific misconduct throughout the year were shaped by an accumulation of prominent cases, large-scale article retractions, and a growing awareness that the problem is systemic. Thus, 2025 should be read as the year when scientific deviation can no longer be … Continue reading Global Science Kaleidoscope 2025: More Than Individual Scandals, This Is a Structural Crisis

Ilham A. Ridlo23 Dec 202518 Feb 2026Leave a comment