Noryawati Mulyono (left) and Yanti: JP/Prodita Sabarini From Indonesia’s first ever school of biotechnology comes two young female scientists who snatched a Rp 70 million research grant each from this year’s L’Oreal-Unesco Fellowship for Women in Science.
The school of biotechnology at Atmajaya University is young — barely eight years old — and so are its lecturers Yanti and Noryawati Mulyono — both in their early 30s. But their youth is by no means synonymous with naivety or foolishness. Their presence at the school in fact is the result of vision and hard work.
Sitting on dark rustic wooden chairs over bowls of Mie Ayam at Atmajaya University’s canteen, Yanti and Noryawati said they were initially surprised to win the L’Oreal fellowship; not because they thought they didn’t deserve it, but because they were single.
They assumed that because previous winners of this annual fellowship had mostly been female scientists who had already found husbands that these were the most likely candidates to win the award.
“Some people told us they [L’Oreal-Unesco] usually award married women and that was probably the image of the grantee they were looking for,” Yanti said. Neither Yanti or Noryawati is married although Noryawati said she had plans to tie the knot soon.
“But apparently that’s not the case. We got it [the grant] and we’re very grateful because it means they really appreciate our research ideas,” she added.
The Fellowship for Women in Science granted three scientists this year, Yanti and Noryawati as well as Harlinda Kusprandini from Mulawarman University, Samarinda, funds for further research.
L’Oreal Indonesia president director Jean Christophe Letellier explained his company aimed to raise gender equality in science by supporting Indonesian women scientists with funding.
Yanti, who at 32 is the school of biotechnology’s vice dean for academic affairs, is searching for a treatment for the painful gout arthritis. She is looking at the potential of an active compound called Macelignan which is isolated from nutmeg extract.
Noryawati, 34, entered the world of academia last year, after working in the private sector for 10 years.
She is attempting to find an environmentally friendly alternative for plastic bags by looking at the properties of damar.
Noryawati said they had competed in a friendly way, supporting each other when making their proposals.
“When I had some additional documents to submit, Yanti helped submit them for me,” she said.
The support Yanti and Noryawati showed for each other echoed the support the university gives faculty members. Yanti said the university’s Research and Community Service institute (LPPM) gave lecturers small grants for preliminary research.
Yanti and Noryawati’s school in particular strives to push its staff to do more research, they said. “Our faculty is new and most its staff is young. The requirements to get an academic position are currently very high,” she said. “As lecturers, we have to do the university Tri Dharma, which includes, besides teaching, research and community service,” she said.
Yanti’s research, she explained, was based on the notion that research findings have to be applicable.
She learned that while completing her PhD in biotechnology at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. When she studied and participated in Korean research projects, she learned that biotechnology research there focused on finding something that can be of use to companies.
She focuses on exploring nutraceuticals — nutrient or food believed to have curative properties — from Indonesian tropical plants in treating inflammation and inflammation-related disease.
“In the past, it was mostly men over 40 who suffered from gout arthritis. But the latest information shows gout arthritis affects people aged between 25 and 40 and is not limited to men. The ratio now is around 50:50 [men to women],” she said.
The active compound Macelignan from nutmeg extract has the potential to treat inflammation, she went on. Her research aims to test the potential of the compound in reducing inflammation of the joints in gout arthritis.
Noryawati, meanwhile, is looking at the potential of damar, a forest plant product, to replace plastic as packaging.
She said the mass use of plastic had created environmental problems. “We need to find an alternative for plastic.” Norya added she would use her grant money to buy equipment for her research. She hopes it will take less than 10 years for her packaging solution from damar to be available on the market.
Yanti pointed out that research grants helped scientists do research without having to ask the industry for funding first.
They create a bridge between universities and companies. “Usually universities ask companies to fund research and then they start working. But that trend needs to change,” she said.
Her experience in Korea showed her that scientists chose their field of research first and then sell their results to companies. “After we patented the results, we sell that.
“This way, it’s more open. It depends on who would like to apply it first. People from anywhere can access it. It’s more beneficial like that.”
