According to the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiktisaintek), Prof. Brian Yuliarto, S.T., M.Eng., Ph.D., this expectation was conveyed during a Discussion Session held with the leaders and deans of USU on Friday, September 25, 2026.

According to him, USU has a strategic position to become the spearhead of science and technology development in the Sumatra region.

“In Sumatra and in Indonesia, of course USU is one of the spearheads of the development of science and technology,” said the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.

According to him, the Indonesian nation, particularly Sumatra, needs more innovations and breakthroughs originating from higher education institutions. USU is expected to produce excellent human resources, research products, knowledge-based policies, and innovations that can be downstreamed.

He said that USU is not only required to produce graduates but also to build a strong culture of innovation and intellectual culture within the university.

“Our nation and Sumatra in particular certainly have high hopes for the innovations and breakthroughs possessed by USU to produce excellent human resources, research products, policies, and downstreaming produced by USU as the spearhead of science and technology development in Sumatra,” he said.

The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology assessed that USU has significant resources to carry out this role.

According to him, the number of professors and doctoral degree holders at USU is an intellectual strength that not every institution possesses. Therefore, this potential must be developed further, not only for teaching activities.

“I always see these campuses as places where the most excellent human resources in the region gather. There is no other place where so many professors gather,” he said.

He encouraged USU to strengthen its direction toward becoming a research university and an innovative university. According to him, universities must be able to transform the intellectual wealth possessed by academics into innovations that provide benefits and economic value.

“When a university has succeeded in selling its research, selling its innovations, selling its intellectual property, its intellectual property rights, patents, and so on, turning them into assets of the university, then this is a university that enters cluster one,” he said.

According to him, higher education institutions should not stop at teaching or producing scientific articles. Research must be encouraged to develop into products, patents, startups, and technology-based industries.

He even challenged USU to begin identifying research with the potential to develop into major technology companies.

The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology explained that the deep tech industry is an industry built upon mastery of science and technology. According to him, Indonesia needs such industries if it wants to significantly increase productivity and people's income.

He gave Nvidia as an example, which initially developed from research on graphics technology but later managed to take an important position in the development of artificial intelligence.

“Who would have thought that research for games would become key research for Artificial Intelligence 20 years later? Nvidia never imagined that. But once it happened, they immediately took over and took that position,” he said.

According to him, this example demonstrates the importance of strong and consistent research. Research results that currently do not show economic benefits may become important technologies when they find the right momentum and industry needs.

“Consistent research, strong research, which then, when the right moment comes, leaps into a giant industry,” he said.

The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology also assessed that strengthening the culture of innovation at USU would have an impact not only on the university but also on North Sumatra and the surrounding regions.

A university that is strong in research and innovation, he said, can give rise to startups, new industries, and knowledge-based employment opportunities.

Therefore, he hoped that USU could take on a greater role as a center of excellence for science and technology in Sumatra.

“State Universities with Legal Entity status such as USU must have the agility to seize this opportunity,” he said.

USU Prepares for Transformation

USU Rector Prof. Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si., welcomed the expectation expressed by the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology. Prof. Muryanto said that his university had begun transforming from a teaching university into an innovative university.

“It is indeed not easy. The ones who can make that change are ourselves, with the resources we have,” said Prof. Muryanto in front of USU leaders and deans.

According to him, USU is carrying out the transformation gradually and consistently.

“That time will come if we carry it out at USU consistently and continuously,” he said.