Rika is a senior researcher with extensive experience collaborating with government institutions in the design and development of public policies. She has led several strategic projects, including the development of the National Strategy for Youth Entrepreneurship, as well as background studies for the Long-Term National Development Plan (RPJPN) 2025–2045 and the Medium-Term National Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029 on Youth Development.

She has also contributed to research on a wide range of socioeconomic development issues, including youth, environment, disability, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) achievement analysis. Her involvement in these diverse research areas has strengthened her interdisciplinary expertise and deepened her understanding of development challenges in Indonesia.

Since 2025, Rika has served as the Head of the Environment & Energy Transition Cluster, where she oversees the implementation of environmental research projects, identifies emerging challenges during study implementation, and coordinates follow-up actions to ensure research quality and relevance.

Prior to joining SMERU, Rika worked as a teaching assistant and research assistant at the Faculty of Economics (now the Faculty of Economics and Business), Universitas Indonesia (UI). She also served as a research assistant at Bank Indonesia (BI) and as an econometrics training assistant at Qiyara Damayanti Artiqa Consulting.

Rika’s passion for research began during her studies at UI. She won several essay competitions, including those held by BI in 2007 (second place); the Tazkia Institute (first place); the Economics and Development Studies Student Association of Universitas Diponegoro and the Semarang branch of BI in 2007 (second place); and the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Sebelas Maret (second place). In addition, she was nominated for the 2007 Faculty of Economics Awards at Universitas Indonesia in the Scientific Writing category.