Nowadays, Indonesia is standing on the low end of research publication. According to Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), there are only 4 500 to 5 500 research publication from the massive total of 261.1 million Indonesian population, even when there are 12 – 14% of university teachers with Ph.D. Consequently, there is an urgent need in the resource for research, especially from the youth.
With the aim to procure developing and committed youth researchers, University of Indonesia as one of the local for Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE) Center for Indonesian Medical Students’ Activities (CIMSA), organize a research training event called “SCORE Goes Public (SGP) Level 1” located in the Rumpun Ilmu Kesehatan building of University of Indonesia.
The focus of this event is the lectures from an experienced speaker about the importance of research, tips & tricks to easily and successfully complete a research paper or thesis as one of the requirements for passing as Bachelor of Medicine, and lastly her experience in research. The speaker for this event is dr. Ipeh who graduated from University of Indonesia as Bachelor of Medicine in 2012. Furthermore, she is also participating as the national committee of research exchange in 2015 – 2016 period, thus she is experienced in research and deemed adequate as a speaker.
dr. Ipeh open the event by firstly introducing about what research is for undergraduate students as well as its impact. Then, she gives some tricks and tips for completing the research paper or thesis swiftly and successfully. The tips and tricks are as follows:
- A Feasible and Interesting Topic
The topic you choose can either make or break your thesis. If you are not interested in the topic, then 99 times out of 100, you are going to be demotivated and give up on the thesis. Moreover, the topic also needs to be S.M.A.R.T., not smart that it can teach you calculus, but smart as an acronym of specific, measureable, achievable, reliable, and time bound; with achievable / feasible as the most important factor. Your hard work will be in vain, if your topic is not feasible like how it is impossible for fish to breathe air. Chiefly, you need to think out your topic well enough for days, months, or even years before the commencement of the research.
- Selective in Choosing Tutor(s)
Even though tutor seems to just be giving out revision after revision, the tutor also contributes on your development in doing the thesis paper. The tutor is the one who can give you advice on how to improve the quality of your thesis. If you randomly choose your tutor, you have a high probability of digging your own grave. It is important to be paired with an effective tutor, one who understands all about research and he/she should be fast response. If the tutor does not fully comprehend research, then it is like a blind man guiding another blind man.
- Research Group
In doing research for the thesis, students are going to be divided into groups as it requires a lot of complicated data to be documented and analyzed. However, it is within our best interest to look for an active and responsible teammate. Good personality teammate will increase the group morale as well as speed and vice versa. Thus, be selective in choosing your teammate; beware of a sloth hiding within your friend!
After finished in delivering her points on the tips and tricks for the thesis, dr. Ipeh delivered some insight on her intriguing research experiences as well as her experience in SCORE as member, LORE, and NORE. Overall, she amazes the audience by hammering down a simple but powerful take home message, there are a lot to do and to achieve in SCORE as long as you are actively participating and utilizing all chances effectively. The event then closed uneventfully with a post-test, a certificate giving as an award to the speaker, and a group photo.