Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) have allocated Rp57 billion (US$3.51 million) to fund 122 university research programs to strengthen the national innovation ecosystem.The funding is distributed through the Bestari Saintek Program, launched alongside the broader Semesta Program under the 2026 state budget funding scheme in Jakarta on Wednesday.The ministry's Director General of Science and Technology Ahmad Najib Burhani said the program captured grassroots innovation through a highly competitive selection process.A total of 122 research teams were selected involving 854 lecturers and academic staffs, and supported by 341 primary and supporting partners across various sectors.State universities accounted for 57.8 percent of participating institutions while private universities contributed 42.2 percent of the total teams.”This figure underscores the crucial role of both state and private universities in driving national research,” Najib said during the announcement.The official highlighted the growing contribution of private institutions in strengthening the national innovation ecosystem through these collaborative projects.He added the projects span eight strategic sectors led by food and agriculture with 45 teams followed by social sciences, humanities, arts, and education with 30 teams, and maritime with 12 teams.Other sectors include information and communication technology (9 teams), health and pharmaceuticals (8 teams), disaster management (8 teams), energy and renewable energy (6 teams), and advanced materials (4 teams).LPDP Director of Research Facilitation Ayom Widipaminto said flexible funding requires strong accountability to ensure research outcomes are adopted by industry.“Disbursing funding is easy. What is harder is accountability. Even harder is ensuring that the funding delivers real impact,” he said.Minister of Higher Education Brian Yuliarto urged academics not to treat scientific publication as the end goal of their research efforts.“What is wrong is when we stop at scientific journals. That is not enough. Research must continue,” he said to the participants.