L.T. Handoko

Laksana Tri Handoko (born 7 May 1968, in Malang) is an Indonesian scientist and public official specializing in theoretical and particle physics. He formerly served as the deputy head of science and technology for the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesian: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, LIPI) from 2014 to 2018. In 2018, he replaced Bambang Subiyanto as the acting chairman of the institute.

He was Chairman of the National Research and Innovation Agency (Indonesian: Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, BRIN) from 2021 to 2025. At that period, the physics lecturer did not earn adequate paychecks due to limited opportunities and salaries in Indonesia at that time, resulting in his father having a side job as a chicken farmer.

Between his time of undergraduate graduation and master's study, he worked at a Japanese wood factory and later became a gas station employee in Japan. and he's also the secretary of the Humboldt Alumni Association of Indonesia.

Careers

LIPI Scientist After returning to Indonesia, Handoko joined LIPI. In LIPI, he joined the Theoretical Physics group. In 2002, he later became Head of the LIPI Theoretical Physics Group, a post he held for 10 years. In 2012, he became Head of the LIPI Research Center for Informatics. He rose to the rank of Deputy III (Engineering Sciences) of LIPI from 2014 until 2018. At the time of his appointment as Chairman of BRIN, he still holds the visiting professor position at the University of Indonesia.

Chairman of LIPI He became the 10th Chairman of LIPI in 2018, succeeding Iskandar Zulkarnaen, the 9th Chairman of LIPI. Previously, the post was filled in an acting capacity by Bambang Subiyanto in the transition period between Zulkarnaen to Handoko. After liquidation of Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesian: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, LIPI), Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (Indonesian: Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi, BPPT), National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (Indonesian: Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional, BATAN), and National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Indonesian: Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional, LAPAN) into BRIN on 1 September 2021, he currently become the Head of BRIN in its first consolidated form.

Post-Chairmanship After no longer become the Chairman of BRIN, Laksana was appointed as BRIN Research Professor with rank Principal Investigator Researcher thru Presidential Decision No. 36/M/2025 and stationed in Research Center for Quantum Physics, Research Organization of Nanotechnology and Material (ORNAMAT).

Honors and awards

Scholarships and Fellowships

Overseas Fellowship Program Scholarship, Batch IV, Ministry of Research and Technology (1987–1993) Science and Technology for Industrial Development Scholarship, Batch II, Ministry of Research and Technology (1993–1995) Monbusho Scholarship, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (1995–1998) Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (1998–2001) Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Deutsch Electronen Synchroton Stiftung (2000–2001) Postdoctoral Fellowship of the ASEAN-KOSEF project at Yonsei University (2003) Simons Regular Associate of International Centre for Theoretical Physics (2014–2019)

Awards As a LIPI scientist, he was awarded by:

Controversies As Chairman of LIPI, he was seen as "revolutionary" by implementing revolutionary policies for LIPI reorganization. The most important revolutionary policy during his time were the reorganization of LIPI, which at time the size is very big due to having many non-optimal subunits into slimmer organization and archiving revolution. Due to his revolutionary policies, he was protested by his seniors at LIPI.

His leadership style as leader of BRIN seen as "one man show leadership" and lack of compromising criticized and protested by his seniors and former colleagues. He was also become the center of polemic due to human resource issue resulted on Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology liquidation in early 2022.