Makassar, 26 February 2026
The PELITA Project (Understanding the Education and Labor Market Consequences of Indonesia’s Quest to Become the World’s Leading Nurse Exporting Nation) held another online coordination meeting on Thursday, February 26, 2026. The meeting involved research team members from Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS), LMU Munich (Germany), Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), the Australian National University (ANU), and all field research team members. This activity involved 12 participants, consisting of the Pelita Leader, Prof. Dr. Julia Lohmann; Principal Investigators, Prof. Rini Rachmawaty, Prof. Ferry Efendi, and Prof. Firman Witoelar; Research Assistants, Ani Ilmi Auli, Eliana Chavarría Pino, Tri Yatmi, Hafidah Amiruddin and Nursindia A. Sugoro; and Research Administrators, Muh. Fadhil Ichsan Jaya and Anisa Salsabila. The main agenda covered the evaluation of research instruments, ethics progress, sample stratification, publication policy, data governance, and team administration.
In the evaluation of research instruments, the team confirmed that the existing instruments meet the required indicators. However, a number of inconsistencies were identified in previously submitted equipment data, necessitating an immediate review. Discussion also touched on the issue of participant identification, particularly regarding graduates who have become alumni specifically whether to use the Student Identification Number (NIM) or the National Identity Number (NIK/KTP). A decision on this matter will be made promptly by the team.
On the individual questionnaire development component, the team reported that a comprehensive literature review of existing frameworks and indicators has been completed, and a list of topics and potential outcome indicators has been compiled. The next step is to review this list in the coming week, then translate it into an international questionnaire. The team acknowledged that full questionnaire development will require additional time, as it must undergo a validation and piloting process.
Regarding research ethics, consent forms and ethics documents are currently in preparation. The team agreed that ethics submissions can be made in phases according to research stages, with the policy component submitted first, followed by other components. As a reference, Prof. Ferry Efendi from Universitas Airlangga will provide a universal informed consent template that can serve as a reference for this project. Ethics amendments were also noted as necessary before field work commences for the quantitative component.
In the discussion on sample stratification, stratification by institution type (public and private) has been added to the protocol. Additional stratification by department was proposed, but concerns about the required sample size were raised. The team agreed to further examine whether stratification needs to be expanded beyond the public/private categories, and this decision will be discussed at the next meeting. Graduate recruitment was also noted as requiring further guidance, particularly for first-time recruitment.
On the project’s publication agenda, the team established a policy distinguishing between publications under the project umbrella and those outside it, with the primary principle of prioritizing eligible co-authors. All members were asked to circulate brief descriptions of publication ideas along with their target journals to the full team via email. A master list will be created to track all ongoing publications, with careful budget management to ensure publication funds are not exhausted in the first year.
The team also discussed Advisory Panel progress. Panel members were noted as highly enthusiastic and willing to assist, and have provided very valuable input. The next virtual Advisory Panel session will be scheduled to clarify study design and methodological issues, planned for after Eid al-Fitr with Prof. Rini and Prof. Ferry as the persons in charge. Prof. Julia Lohmann was tasked with drafting the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Advisory Panel, as well as sending an official appreciation email to all panel members.
Data governance emerged as a serious concern in this meeting. The team agreed that data access rights must be clearly defined, including the data-sharing mechanism between LMU Munich and Universitas Hasanuddin. A secure qualitative data storage mechanism needs to be established, and anonymized versions of the data must be prepared for publication purposes, in accordance with protocol commitments and German data protection regulations. Storage infrastructure options will be discussed with IT staff at each respective university. In addition, a dedicated meeting with the REDCap IT team will be scheduled to discuss technical requirements, usage rules, and data storage mechanisms within the platform.
On the administrative side, Prof. Rini is responsible for preparing several administrative documents, including a draft reference letter for project purposes, a cooperation letter for collaboration partners, and a certificate letter for the administrative team and research assistants. The national policy analysis component was also reported as still ongoing, with policy data collection and updates continuing to be carried out by the responsible team members.
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 17:00 WITA, with a specific agenda focused on statistics and technical research details. The Advisory Panel session with Prof. Ferry is planned for after Eid al-Fitr, while the meeting with the REDCap IT team will be scheduled subsequently. All follow-up actions were agreed to be completed promptly in order to support the smooth progress of the field data collection phase planned for mid-2026.
