MEDAN – USU PR: The Research and Innovation Development Agency (BPRI) of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) held a Socialization of the 2026 Priority and Strategic Research Downstreaming Program for lecturers and researchers within the university on Friday afternoon (December 19, 2025). The online socialization session was officially opened by USU Vice Rector III, Prof. Dr. Poppy Anjelisa Zaitun Hasibuan, S.Si., M.Si., Apt.

The socialization was conducted in response to the 2026 Priority–Strategic Research Downstreaming Program Funding Scheme launched by the Directorate of Downstreaming and Partnerships, Directorate General of Research and Development, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. This funding is expected to encourage the downstreaming of research outputs at higher education institutions and provide concrete support for the readiness of leading research products/commodities.

On this occasion, three speakers who are also national reviewers were invited, namely Prof. Dr. Ir. Elisa Julianti, M.Si., Prof. Dr. Erika Revida, M.S., and Dr. T. Henny Febriana Harumy, S.Kom., M.Kom. Each delivered materials on the Energy Scheme, Industry Call, and Strategies for Obtaining Funding under the Energy Scheme and Industry Call.

In her remarks, the Vice Rector III of USU expressed hope that the socialization would help lecturers and researchers understand the tips and requirements that must be fulfilled when submitting funding proposals. She also emphasized that downstreaming activities should involve cross-disciplinary synergy to enable broader input from various fields of knowledge.

Meanwhile, the Chair of BPRI USU, Buchari, S.T., M.Kes., IPM, stated that in 2025, out of six proposals submitted by USU lecturers for the Synergy category, three proposals successfully received funding. Meanwhile, for the Industry Call category, only one proposal was submitted and successfully funded. In the Technology Push category, four out of eight submitted proposals were funded.

“We hope that through this socialization, lecturers’ interest in downstreaming their innovative outputs will continue to increase. If there are obstacles or issues encountered during the submission process, they can be discussed directly with the reviewers who are serving as speakers at this event,” said Buchari.

The first speaker, Prof. Dr. Ir. Elisa Julianti, M.Si., who also serves as Vice Dean III of the Faculty of Agriculture, USU, presented her material entitled Priority and Strategic Research Downstreaming Program SINERGI: Integrated Technology Transfer–Based Research Downstreaming Scheme. She explained that SINERGI is a scheme designed to encourage the utilization of research outputs and expertise of higher education institutions through sustainable collaboration with partners.

The objectives of this scheme include fostering mutually beneficial and sustainable cooperation between universities and partners, accelerating the utilization of research and innovation outputs in the form of commercial innovation products or social innovation products, and enhancing national innovation competitiveness through an impact-oriented downstreaming approach.