Airlangga University

Airlangga University (Indonesian: Universitas Airlangga; Javanese: ꦈꦤꦶꦮ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦄꦲꦶꦂꦭꦁꦒ, abbreviated as UNAIR) is the second-oldest university in Indonesia and also a research public university located in Surabaya, East Java. Despite being officially established by Indonesian Government Regulation in 1954, Universitas Airlangga was first founded in 1948 as a distant branch of the University of Indonesia, with roots dating back to 1913. It started with a medical school and a school of dentistry. Now Universitas Airlangga hosts 16 faculties with more than 35,000 students (during the 2015-2016 academic year) and 1,570 faculty members. Universitas Airlangga has university hospitals for the faculties of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Dentistry, as well as a tropical infection hospital for its Institute of Tropical Disease. The university is also equipped with biosafety level three facilities.

Consistently ranked highly in major world university rankings, Universitas Airlangga has long been considered one of the "Big 5" universities in Indonesia, along with the University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bogor Agricultural University, and Gadjah Mada University.

Universitas Airlangga has international partnerships worldwide, including with the University of Bonn, Seoul National University, and the University of Adelaide.

Before Universitas Airlangga was established on October 11, 1847, the proposal to educate young Javanese to become health experts was submitted to the Dutch colonial government. On May 8, 1913 — through Edict No. 4211 of the Governor General of the Netherlands-Indies — NIAS (Nederlandsch Indische Artsen School) (Netherlands Indies School of Doctors) was founded as a medical education center in Surabaya. The first medical institution was located in Jl. Kedungdoro 38, Surabaya. In 1923, NIAS was moved to its present-day location of the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Airlangga, on Jl. Major General Moestopo, Surabaya.

Lonkhuizen, the director of the Department of Health, proposed the establishment of a School of Dentistry in Surabaya. He received approval from R.J.F. Van Zaben, the succeeding director of NIAS, and the new school was opened in July 1928. Later on, the school was better known as STOVIT (School tot Opleiding van Indische Tandartsen) (School for Training Indies Dentists) with 21 students. Later during the Japanese occupation, STOVIT was renamed Ika-Shika Daigaku (医科歯科大学) (College of Medicine and Dentistry) under the supervision of Takeda as its first director (1942–1945), while NIAS was closed down.

Two years later, the post-WW II Dutch colonial government took over Ika-Shika Daigaku and then changed its name to Tandheelkundig Instituut (Institute of Dentistry) and NIAS was reopened as Faculteit der Geneeskunde (Faculty of Medicine). In 1948, the dentistry institute changed its status to Universitair Tandheelkundig Instituut (UTI) (Institute of College Dentistry). Later after Republik Indonesia Serikat (RIS) gained its official independence in 1950, UTI was renamed LIKG (Lembaga Ilmu Kedokteran Gigi) (Institute of Dentistry) for four years, under the leadership of Prof. M. Knap and Prof. M. Soetojo. In 1948, both schools became part of the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Dentistry.

Universitas Airlangga was established by Government Regulation (Peraturan Pemerintah) No. 57/1954 and was inaugurated by the first president of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno on November 10, 1954, coinciding with the celebration of the ninth national Heroes' Day. In the same year, the Faculty of Law of Universitas Airlangga (formerly a branch of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Politics of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta) was established.

The name Airlangga is taken from the name of the reigning king of East Java in 1019–1042, Rakai Halu Sri Lokeswara Dharmawangsa Airlangga Anantawikramattungadewa (well known as Prabu Airlangga). Universitas Airlangga's Coat of Arms is the mythical bird Garuda ("Garudamukha") — the magical bird ridden by Vishnu — who carries an urn containing the eternal water "Amerta". This symbol represents Universitas Airlangga as the source of eternal knowledge.