Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) marked a milestone in 2025 by participating for the first time in the Indonesian Collaborative Research (Riset Kolaborasi Indonesia/RKI) program. The participation culminated in a Monitoring and Evaluation (MONEV) meeting held in late November 2025 at Universitas Negeri Padang, West Sumatra.

Representing UIII in the RKI program were Ridwan, Ph.D., a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Dr. Destina Wahyu Winarti from the Faculty of Education. Through this initiative, UIII joined other state-owned legal entity universities (PTNBH) in a national research collaboration. Ridwan, Ph.D. served as a partner researcher in a project led by Prof. Dr. Elly Maliha, M.Si. of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, with Prof. Dr. Ahmad Munjin Nasih, S.Pd., M.Ag. of Universitas Negeri Malang as another partner researcher.

The collaborative research, titled “Developing a Knowledge Reconstruction Model on Radicalism and Intolerance in Higher Education,” addresses persistent variations in students’ perspectives on religious intolerance and exclusivism. The study underscores the importance of implementing multicultural and socio-religious education on campus as an educational strategy to prevent radicalism and intolerance. It also responds to challenges encountered during the implementation phase following the 2024 research cycle.

As part of data collection, the research team conducted several activities, including the implementation of the knowledge reconstruction model at UPI Bandung on 26–27 May 2025 and in Malang on 16 October 2025. At UIII, a focus group discussion was held on 28 May 2025, followed by in-depth interviews with various stakeholders within the university. The research findings have been submitted to a Scopus-indexed journal and are currently awaiting publication.

During the MONEV session in Padang, Ridwan, Ph.D. presented the research progress on behalf of the team, as the principal and partner researchers were unable to attend. The evaluation was also attended by UIII’s Director of Research and Cooperation, Dr. Saiful Umam, along with Dr. Haula Noor from the Faculty of Islamic Studies and Azhari Mulyana from the Research and Cooperation Directorate, who monitored the activity on site.

The MONEV meeting brought together representatives of all research teams receiving RKI 2025 grants, serving not only as an evaluation forum but also as an opportunity for academic networking and collaboration. UIII expressed its appreciation to the Rector, the Directorate of Research and Cooperation, and the entire academic community for their support in enabling the university’s inaugural participation in the RKI program. The university hopes to see greater involvement of its researchers in the Indonesian Collaborative Research initiative in the years to come.