Chem-UGM has array of cooperation both at national and international level. In research activity, the Chem-UGM not only promotes individual research interests that reflects each academic staff’s own research orientation but also encourages collaborative research with other faculties within UGM and other national universities an even with others international. Research collaboration with other faculties, for example Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, is developed for research project of Riset Unggulan Terpadu (RUT), Riset Unggulan Kemitraan (RUK) and Riset Unggulan Terpadu International (RUTI). Some non-incentives researches for students’s final project are also conducted in collaboration with Faculty of Biology on zeolite, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy on virgin coconut oil (VCO).
The Chem-UGM pioneered linkages and joint researches with industries. For example with PT. INDESSO, Purwokerto, Central Java, for research and development of essential oils and with local government (PEMDA) of East Java in the field of natural product exploration, and with Freeport, West Papua, with PT Krakatau Steel, Cilegon, Banten as well as with PT Pertamina, Balongan, West Java in the field of development of zeolite-based catalysts. These collaborations are in line with the Chem-UGM research policy that is focusing research on local natural products and materials.
The networking between Chem-UGM with other national and international institutions has been built for many years and has very positive impact especially for enhancement of the quality of the academic staffs. Since 1977, the Chem-UGM has been actively engaged in many scientific affairs with many international institutions. For example the one with Chemistry Department of the State University of Utrecht, the Netherlands (1977 to 1993) has produced 6 Ph.D. degrees through sandwich programs. In 1991, cooperation between the Chem-UGM and State University of Innsbruck, Austria in field of computational Chemistry research was initiated and has resulted in 3 Ph.D. degrees and many collaborative researches. The most remarkable accomplishment of State University of Innsbruck and Chem-UGM’s collaborative work was the establishment of the Austria-Indonesia Centre for Computational Chemistry Research (AIC). Further, in 1995, the cooperation between Chem-UGM and Murdoch University, Perth, Australia was initiated, and so far 2 doctoral degrees have been given together with many collaborative international publications and exchange program of academic staff. Later, Chem-UGM also does cooperation with the Institute of Ecological Chemistry and Waste Analysis of the Faculty of Life Sciences of Technische Universitaet Carolo Wilhelmina (TUBS) in Braunschweig/Germany in developing of an education which is closely related with “Green Chemistry” or “Sustainable Chemistry”.