On 22 December 2025, Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik (UM Gresik) marked an important milestone in its international academic collaboration agenda through an official visit to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), one of Malaysia’s leading public research universities, widely recognized for its strong performance in research and international scholarly publications.

The visit focused on the implementation of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD)at theCentre for Policy Research (CPR), USM, which explored opportunities for collaborative research and partnerships in internationally reputable academic journals. The discussion emphasized the development of joint research initiatives and publication strategies aimed at enabling academic outputs to reach Scopus-indexed journals.

The UM Gresik delegation was led by Rector Prof. Dr. Khoirul Anwar, S.Pd., M.Pd., accompanied by the Head of the International Relations Office (IRO) of UM Gresik, Paulina, S.Pd., M.Pd., and the Dean of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Dr. Nur Fauziyah, S.Pd., M.Pd. The presence of the university’s top leadership underscored UM Gresik’s strong commitment to expanding its international academic network with a clear focus on tangible and sustainable academic outcomes.

During the FGD, both institutions engaged in substantive discussions on mechanisms for collaborative research, co-authorship of academic articles, and the organization of international conferences linked to reputable journal publications. The dialogue centered on maintaining high academic standards and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the collaboration.

The series of activities continued with a visit to USM Press, where discussions were held on potential cooperation in academic publishing, particularly in relation to editorial processes and the quality assurance of international scholarly publications.

Through this initiative, UM Gresik further strengthens its campus internationalization efforts by building strategic partnerships with leading research universities in Southeast Asia. The collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia is expected to contribute significantly to the enhancement of research quality, international publications, and UM Gresik’s position within the global academic network.