On August 7, 2024, the Faculty of Biology held The Campus Induction for New Students of the Biodiversity Curator Professional Program (PKKH) for the Odd Semester of the 2024/2025 Academic Year. This event was attended by the Faculty Management, Lecturers, Laboratory Heads, and 18 new students of the PKKH program who participated in person or virtually. The event was opened by the Vice Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Bambang Retnoaji, S.Si., M.Sc., who introduced the course lecturers and laboratory heads of the Faculty of Biology. The event continued with remarks from the Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Prof. Dr. Budi S. Daryono, M.Agr.Sc, who attended virtually. Prof. Budi expressed his hope that the PKKH program alumni would be ready to face the challenges of the workforce and contribute positively to biodiversity management.
The presentation session featured a speaker from BRIN, Prof. Dr. Ocky Karna Radjasa, M.Sc., who spoke on the theme “Challenges of Marine Biodiversity Curation.” He emphasized that Indonesia, as a global center of marine abundance and diversity, particularly with the Coral Triangle Initiative, holds the highest coral diversity in the world. This diversity necessitates expertise in managing it, such as scientific diving and biodiversity curation.
The Head of the PKKH Study Program, Rina Sri Kasiamdari, S.Si., Ph.D., explained that the goal of the PKKH program is to produce expert biodiversity curators who are excellent in their field, confident, professional, culturally aware, creative, innovative, collaborative, and embody the values of Pancasila for the welfare of the nation and country. This program also aims to expand opportunities for academics and practitioners to receive excellent professional curator education to develop competencies in collection planning, collection gathering and documentation, collection analysis, and collection care. This aligns with SDG 4, which ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all. It also mentioned that the duration of the PKKH program is two semesters (1 year), with a total of 36 credits, divided into classroom lectures (36.1%) and practical/practicum sessions (63.9%).
The Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation, and Alumni Affairs, Dr. Eko Agus Suyono, M.App.Sc., discussed the Indonesia Biologist Association (IBA), an organization that serves to unite, guide, and empower biologists in Indonesia and plays a role in enhancing the role of biologists as professional biologists, agents of change, and agents of development in the field of biology. The PKKH program is the first of its kind in Indonesia and Asia and the second in the world after Cambridge University.
The Coordinator of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, Emi Dwi Suryanti, S.Si., M.Sc., provided material on Simaster, the system used for the learning process. The event concluded with a tour to the Biology Campus, guided by Ardita Tri Anugrah Budaya, S.Si.