Deakin University Names First Rector Designate for New Lancaster University Indonesia Campus
Professor Greg Barton, one of Australia’s leading scholars in Indonesian culture and politics, has been announced as the first Rector Designate of The Deakin University Lancaster University Indonesia campus.
Professor Barton’s appointment as Rector Designate was announced at the newly opened campus in Bandung, West Java on October 7th during a partner visit.
He welcomed the opportunity to lead this new and innovative joint campus, saying: “I’m deeply honoured to take on the role of Rector Designate and help guide two leading international universities through what is set to be an exciting new chapter in Indonesia.
“I look forward to building on this strong, global partnership and offering students high quality, affordable educational opportunities as we support them to realise their study ambitions.”
He has thirty-five years of experience researching Islam and social movements in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He is one of Australia’s leading scholars of Indonesia, Islam, Muslim society, security and politics.
From August 2015, he was Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics in the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI), at Deakin University and previously was Herb Feith Research Professor for the study of Indonesia at Monash University (2007-2015).
He was also a member of the Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC) staff team from the time of the establishment of AIC at Monash in 2014. Greg is also an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Strategic and Global Studies (SKSG), University of Indonesia, and a Senior Fellow with the UAE-based Hedayah Center in Abu Dhabi.
About the campus
Deakin University Lancaster University Indonesia campus has opened for applications to its undergraduate programs in Business and Information Technology. The campus offers a unique combination of Australian and British degree subjects approved by national regulators in Australia, the UK and Indonesia taught in a high-quality learning and teaching environment. The campus is currently hosting school visits.
Students have the opportunity to obtain dual undergraduate qualifications from two world-class institutions while enjoying the many benefits of living and working close to home, supported by their families and peers.
The venture is the first UK-Australia overseas joint campus in the world and will support the educational and research aspirations of the Indonesian Government, and aims to provide social, cultural and economic benefits for the country. It brings together world-class expertise in teaching, learning and research to advance Indonesia’s reputation as an appealing international education destination, and will support students from Indonesia and around the world to realise their study ambitions.
Deakin and Lancaster both have a reputation for world-leading education and research, and extensive experience in international education. They have a global footprint of partnerships that complement each other well.
The two universities are committed to investing in a campus that delivers the best possible student experience. They have a longstanding collaboration in student mobility and research, especially between the business schools, which includes two-way student exchange, study tours and work-integrated learning projects.
The joint campus was granted approval by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in January.
About Deakin University
Established in 1974, Deakin is one of Australia’s most progressive and agile universities, leading in the innovative use of digital technologies and online learning, and blending this capability across its distinctive campus precincts in Melbourne, Geelong, and Warrnambool. Deakin has achieved a balance of high-quality research with an education experience that is consistently rated as one of the best in the country.
About Lancaster University
Lancaster University is a leading research intensive UK university, ranked in the top 15 in all major UK league tables and listed141 out of 1500 in the QS World University Rankings 2025.
Lancaster is the largest provider of UK transnational education in Malaysia, in partnership with Sunway University (Source: HESA) and was the first UK University to open a campus in Leipzig, Germany. Lancaster also has partner campuses in Ghana and China.