The Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia (UI) and Dr. Ashley Randall successfully collaborated in building the capacity of the faculty members and their students to conduct research and develop manuscripts for publication in top-tier journals. The collaboration was made through the Fulbright Specialist program, which was run from May 28 through June 11, 2023.

Dr. Randall is an associate professor, Honors faculty, and senior Global Futures scientist at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Through the Fulbright Specialist program, she was afforded numerous opportunities to interact with students and faculty in the Department of Psychology.

“Specifically, I delivered a writing workshop for students and faculty wishing to submit their manuscripts for publication in top-tier journals, delivered several research talks on my area of expertise (couples’ coping with stress), discussed ways in which we could collaborate to elevate the global reach of our scholarship, and delivered an all-day workshop for faculty and clinical psychologists working with couples and families in the local community,” she said.

“I am appreciative of the opportunity to connect with like-minded scholars from around the world, especially Indonesia, as we move towards the collective future of helping the relationships of those living around the world!” she added.

Ten faculty members from the Faculty of Psychology at UI attended the writing workshop. It took place over two days, with a week in between, during which Dr. Randall gave a presentation on writing good research papers and reviewed and discussed drafts from the participants.

“The participants were not able to revise their papers in such a short time, but Dr. Randall was open to receiving emails from those who need further consultation on their papers,” Dr. Debora Purba of UI said.

Other programs they did also included research collaboration with the Family Studies Research Group and sharing sessions with students from the Faculty of Psychology at UI and other universities, such as Atma Jaya University and Binus University. They also organized a workshop on stress in couples’ relationships, which was attended by 15 participants, including faculty members, students, and alumni. The workshop successfully presented recent research findings on how to deal with couples’ stress. Additionally, Dr. Randall served as a resource person in one of the research day series organized monthly by the Faculty of Psychology.