Public Relations USU - Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) made another important step on the global academic stage by holding the International Conference on Frontiers in Operations Research and Applied Mathematics (FORAM) 2025. The activity took place at the Digital Library Convention Building (DLCB) USU in a hybrid manner, and for the first time was held under the name “FORAM” on Thursday (22/05/2025).

Titled “Bridging the Gap Between Theoretical Advancements and Practical Applications that Address Real-World Challenges”, this conference was presented as an academic response to increasingly complex real challenges in various sectors, from climate change to digital transformation.

Prof. Dr. Eng. Himsar Ambarita, ST, MT, Director of the Directorate of Internationalization and Global Partnerships, opened the event with a strong message about the urgency of uniting scientific foundations with society's practical needs. He hoped FORAM could create cross-disciplinary synergy between academics, practitioners, and policymakers.

"We live in an era of global complexity, from the climate crisis, food security, to economic disruption. Science, especially operational research and applied mathematics, must be a bridge to solutions, not just a pile of theories," he said.

Prof. Himsar also emphasized that FORAM 2025 is part of USU's ongoing strategy to strengthen the institution's position at the international level and affirm the campus's commitment to producing research that is academically superior and has a real impact on society.

“This activity is USU's strategy in producing data-based innovations that can be directly implemented,” said Prof. Himsar.

Despite being the fourth edition of the conference series previously known as “InteriOR”, FORAM 2025 marks a new chapter with a broader scope. The committee chairperson, Prof. Dr. Elvina Herawati, M.Si, explained that the name change also reflects the expansion of focus, from solely operational research to integration with applied mathematics.

“We want to emphasize the importance of applied mathematical approaches to answer real-world challenges, not just stop at the realm of theory,” she said.

The conference saw active participation from both domestic and international academics, with more than 50 titles of scientific presentations delivered in the form of seminars, discussions, and poster sessions. Four countries were involved, making FORAM 2025 a cross-border forum that strengthened global scientific collaboration. It is also a platform for knowledge exchange and strengthening networks between universities. Various institutions in Indonesia participated, such as ITB, UNAIR, UGM, and Universitas Brawijaya, both offline and online.