Biology students at Gadjah Mada University (S1) Zildan Basara made another achievement at the national level by winning 2nd place in the National Essay Competition in collaboration with student of Electronics and Instrumentation (S1), MIPA Faculty UGM Ferdian Arvin Nayandra.This national-level essay competition was organized by UKM MAPALA LOKA SAMGRAHA Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, namely “Jaga Bumi Tetap Lestari”. The competition was opened on 1 May 2023, and the winners were announced on 10 June 2023.

In this competition, the team took the sub-theme Technology and Environmental Innovation with the title “Integration of Microfluidics Technology and the Role of Microorganisms as Biosorption Agents in Detection and Mitigation of Heavy Metal Pollution on the River Code, Yogyakarta”. The team discusses that rivers in Indonesia are vital resources for human life, serving as a source of drinking water, agricultural irrigation, transportation, and also rich in biodiversity. Unfortunately, many rivers in Indonesia Suffer from serious pollution, including being contaminated by heavy metals. According to the data from Bureau of Statistic (BPS), throughout the year 2021, 10,683 villages in Indonesia suffered from river contamination. In addition, according to the same data, approximately 46 percent of Indonesian rivers have experienced severe contamination, 32 percent have moderate, 14 percent have moderately polluted, and 8 percent have mild contamination. (Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, 2022). In the past few decades, the Code River has experienced significant pollution levels, including contamination by heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), which enter the river through poorly managed industrial and domestic waste (Harian Jogja, 2021).

Therefore, it is essential to develop sensitive and effective detection methods to identify the level of heavy metal contamination in River water. In addition, bioremediation approaches are also needed to eliminate heavy metal contamination, where microorganisms capable of reducing or eliminating heavy metals can be utilized to naturally clean the river. The essay aims to integrate microfluidics technology as sensitive biological sensors in the detection of heavy metals, and utilizing microorganisms as bioremediation agents that can reduce the level of heavy metal contamination in the river Code water.

During the Festival of Ideas, The 21st Indonesian Scholars International Convention (ISIC), Indonesia achieved an honor for the success of Jimmy Al Fa’is and Elvian Indah Nilamsari,who secured first place in an international essay competition. They outperformed competitors from all around the world with their ideas on the topic of  Sustainable Transition. These two students proposed opportunities for Indonesia to achieve energy independency by harnessing the potential we possess.

ISIC is a scientific forum that was organized annually by the United Kingdom Student Association of Indonesia. In 2023, one of its events was  an essay and scientific poster competition open to all Indonesian students across the country. The competition was highly competitive,participated by Indonesian students from 10 different countries. This year, there were 3 essays with 2 nominations contested. (1st and 2nd Place). On this achievement, they were invited to attend an international conference at Nottingham University, UK.

Elvian and Jimmy proposed a comprehensive approach to the sustainable energy transition in Indonesia.They presented strategic steps for Indonesia to achieve energy self-sufficiency through the conversion of food waste. Using bioreactors, they showed how microorganisms can efficiently convert food waste into lipid-rich materials, which can be converted into biodiesel as a clean and renewable energy source. The scientific approach emphasized the importance of waste reduction, promoting environmental responsibility, and harnessing Indonesia’s potential in the renewable energy sector.

The idea originated from the challenges posed by an increasing population and the rising energy demand.consequently,the Indonesian government must meet energy needs, including fuel. However, fossil fuels, which have been the primary global energy source, are depleting rapidly and pose significant environmental threats. Based on these facts, Elvian and Jimmy proposed the innovation of a mini bioreactor that can be operated on both small and large scales. This innovation is expected to increase biodiesel production and lead Indonesia towards energy self-reliance.

Biology students at Universitas Gadjah Mada (S1) made another achievement by winning the Bronze Medal and Favorite Poster at the national level El Bajo Essay Competition. This achievement was achieved by a team chaired by Amelia Rifki Alifiah (Biology 2019) and its member Fatika Soraya Taufik (Biology 2019) under the guidance of Sukirno, S.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. This competition carries the theme “Idea, Innovation and Creativity to Realize the MDGs” and is carried out in two stages. The first stage included online essay selection by the jury with a total of 265 works from State and Private Universities in Indonesia, so that 28 finalist teams were obtained. The second stage was held on 18-19 March 2023 with an offline final presentation at the Office of the West Manggarai Regent, Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. The organizers also held field trips for the finalists with the intended destinations including Pink Beach, Komodo Island and Padar Island.

In this competition, Amelia and Fatika brought the title “BOBESTEA: Diabetes-Friendly Boba Milk Tea with α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase Inhibitors from Mango Kernel Starch (Mangifera indica L.) and Natural Sweetener Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as an Alternative to Low-Sugar Contemporary Drinks ”. In this essay, Amelia and Fatika discuss that the boba drink trend, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years, has actually contributed to the increase in diabetes cases in Indonesia. The sugar content in one serving of boba drink itself can reach 73.44%, thus exceeding the daily sugar consumption limit. Based on these problems, Amelia and Fatika initiated the BOBESTEA innovation with boba pearls from mango kernel starch containing α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase enzyme inhibitors, as well as milk tea derived from a combination of unsweetened almond milk, black tea, and zero-calorie Stevia natural sweetener. . This innovation is expected to be an alternative solution to current drinks that are much healthier, have a lower risk of diabetes, and can be accepted by consumers, especially millennials and generation Z as the main consumers of boba drinks.

Biology students at Gadjah Mada University (S1) made another achievement at the national level by winning 1st place in the National Essay Competition. This achievement was achieved by Zildan Basara, a student at the Faculty of Biology class of 2020. This national-level essay competition was organized by the Respati Tasikmalaya STIKes Student Executive Board at an annual event, namely the Stunting Response Festival. This year, the Stunting Response Festival has the theme “One Step for Indonesia: Optimizing Zero Stunting for Golden Indonesia”. The competition was held online with 103 registrants from 79 universities, the competition opened on 16 February 2023, and the winners were announced on 23 March 2023.

In this competition, Zildan raised the title “Ensuring Healthy Child Growth to Realize Golden Indonesia: Exploring Challenges and Solutions to Optimizing Zero Stunting”. In this essay, Zildan discusses that Indonesia is one of the countries with a high prevalence of stunting in the world. According to data from the World Bank (2021), the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia in 2020 is 27.4% of the number of children under 5 years of age. This means that around 7.8 million children in Indonesia were stunted that year. This figure places Indonesia as the country with the fourth highest stunting rate in the world. This is a serious problem because stunting can have an adverse impact on children’s physical, cognitive and social development, and can affect their quality of life in the future. Therefore, overcoming stunting is one of the main priorities in achieving the vision of the Golden Indonesia.

Optimizing zero stunting is an important program in preventing stunting in children in Indonesia. This program involves various aspects such as exclusive breastfeeding, provision of complementary foods, access to clean water and good sanitation, health education for pregnant women and their families, increasing the availability of healthy and nutritious food, and community empowerment. The development of this program needs to involve various parties and be supported by supporting policies.

Two Biology students Class of 2019 who are members of the “Organic Sheet Mulch” team under the guidance of Dwi Umi Siswanti, S.Sc., M.Sc. won a bronze medal on March 21, 2023 in an international scientific work competition. The team chaired by Vykra Aulia Firdiana with one member, namely Fatika Soraya Taufik took part in the Agritech Research and Entrepreneurship Innovation (AGREETION) competition which was held in cooperation with several organizations at the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, University of Brawijaya, including the Agritech Research and Study Club (ARSC), Agritechno Business Center (ABC), Agricultural Industrial Technology Student Association (HIMATITAN), Agricultural Engineering Student Association (HIMATETA), and Agricultural Product Technology Student Association (HIMALOGISTA). This competition takes place from 1 February 2023 to. 21 March 2023 and was successfully attended by 243 teams from three countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines).

The big theme that was carried out in this competition was “Development and Innovation on Sustainable Agro-Based Industry Technology to Achieve Human Welfare” with 4 sub-themes. In this competition, Vykra and Soraya compiled a scientific work on the sub-theme “Green Agroindustry and Bio-economy” entitled “Organic Mulch from Sewage Sludge and Banana Pseudostem Waste to Reduce the Impact of Drought Due to El Nino Phenomenon on Horticultural Crops to Improve Human Welfare”. The problem behind the preparation of this scientific work is the statement by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) regarding an increase in drought up to three times worse due to an increase in the El Nino index which is predicted to occur in mid-2023. This has the potential to further increase puso (parched) due to drought which has long been a problem for farmers despite the low El Nino index.

In this scientific work, sewage sludge and banana leaf waste are used as organic mulches which are able to maintain soil water content during the drought phase so that soil moisture is maintained. The organic materials contained in this mulch innovation also add to the role of mulch as a supplier of additional nutrients to the soil to support optimal plant growth. The use of these two materials is an effort to utilize biowaste and create a green agroindustry. The hope is that this innovation can be used as a reference in anticipating and reducing puso due to drought

On March 18, 2023, a presentation on the Business Plan ENVIROTECH 4.0 innovation by PT Pertamina Hulu Indonesia was held with the sub-theme of organic solid waste management, as well as commemorating World Waste Recycling Day. The STARGAZE team fronted by Eva Yunizar Reza Permana Putri, Fanny Najmi Faza, and Fika Zulfiani participated in the competition. The title raised was “MoldtoPlast” Product Innovation of Aspergillus niger Spore Suspension as a Biodegradation Agent for Plastic Packaging Waste” under the assistance of Dr. Miftahul Ilmi, S.Si., M.Sc.

The use of plastic, especially plastic packaging, is increasing. This of course has a bad impact on the environment because plastic waste has a long recycling period. The STARGAZE team looks at the potential for microorganisms that have the ability to degrade plastic, one of which is mold, which is an alternative in the biodegradation of plastic waste made from Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). The innovative product in the form of Aspergillus niger Spore Suspension is packaged in powder form and environmentally friendly paper packaging. This product is targeted to a wide range of markets due to its effectiveness and environmental friendliness.

Based on the results of the Faculty Level Achievement Student Selection (Pilmapres) at Universitas Gadjah Mada which was held on 25-26 February 2023 and taking into account the results of the meeting to determine the winner by the university jury team and the faculty jury team on 6 March 2023, the Director of Student Affairs appointed Adiva Aphrodita (Biology 2020 ) as the winner of the 2023 Faculty-Level Pilmapres at Universitas Gadjah Mada. The Pilmapres was held from 12 – 28 January 2023 as an initial stage of selection, namely registration and collection of committee files. These files include Outstanding Achievements (CU) which contain participant achievements, Creative Idea Papers (GK) for undergraduate category participants with the theme “Sustainable Development Goals” according to the participants’ fields of study, and English Language Certificates (TOEFL/ITP/IELTS/ ACEPT/TOEP/TOEIC). The files were then selected by the UGM Achievement Student Community (Kommapres) in the period 7-9 February 2023. The final pass announcement was made on 22 February 2023 which was then followed by the final stage on 25-26 February 2023. The final stage included interviews for Outstanding Achievements ( CU) and Creative Idea presentations (GK) based on the scripts made by each participant.

Adiva Aphrodita has been known as an active student both in academic and non-academic fields while being a student at the Faculty of Biology from semester 1 to semester 6. Adiva is active as a member and violinist in the Gadjah Mada Chamber Orchestra (GMCO) organization, which is one of the Units Activities of students engaged in the field of music. In 2021, Adiva became the committee for the Successful Learning Training for New Students (PPSMB) of the Faculty of Biology as a member of the Materials Division. In addition, Adiva became the representative for the Republic of Cuba in the field of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the Model United Nations organized by Global Millennials and the representative for the Republic of Indonesia at the ASIA Youth Speak-Up Forum organized by the Korean National Committee for UN Habitat. Another achievement was that Adiva won 3rd place in the INHESION (International Health and Nutrition Symposium) International Scientific Essay Competition held by FK-KMK UGM. In January 2022, Adiva became one of the awardees in the Sakura Science Program which is a student exchange program between the Faculty of Biology and Yamagata University. In October 2022, Adiva became the awardee of the Biology Faculty student exchange program to Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) for 1 semester until February 2023. Adiva’s other biggest achievement was that Adiva managed to lead one of the Biology Faculty’s PKM-RE teams and brought the team to the PIMNAS stage in December 2022 took place in Malang, East Java. At the PKM, Adiva and the team raised the topic of stunting prevention through the creation of the Sprouted Snack Bar.

Bimo Rizki Abdusshamad, a 2020 IUP Biology UGM program student, has succeeded in becoming a NIGINTERN 2023 intern at the National Institute of Genetics (NIG)/Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI, Japan, based on an announcement made on the NIGINTERN official website last March 1. After returning from the USA through the IISMA (Indonesian International Student Mobility Award) program and becoming an exchange student at UC Davis, Bimo’s curiosity about programs and opportunities for international exposure continues to increase. Bimo’s interest in and passion for coffee is very high. He feels that the potential for Indonesian coffee in the industrial world and exports have proven to be enormous. Therefore, he will also study coffee not only in the business field but also in the research sector, namely in the field of plant biotechnology which has a well-known laboratory at the Faculty of Biology UGM where Bimo is currently studying.

In early January, with the recommendation letter from Prof. Dr Endang Semiarti, M.S., M.Sc. and Nur Indah Septriani S.Sc., M.Sc., PhD, Bimo persistently enrolled as an intern at NIG (National Institute of Genetics). At the institution, he will undergo the intern program for one and a half months in the Plant Cytogenetics laboratory. The selection rate for this internship acceptance is very tight. Every year, only nine people from all over the world get accepted and will work at NIG. This year, more than 1,000 people, both undergraduate and master programs from many universities around the globe have registered, and Bimo is the only Indonesian chosen in 2023. Bimo will leave for Japan on June 15, 2023, fully funded by NIG company. Bimo thought this was a great opportunity to explore Japan for the first time, and also to meet fellow exchange program friends from Japan while he was attending the IISMA program at the University of California, Davis, USA.

The batch of the 2022 Student Team from the Faculty of Biology UGM chaired by Birrul Qisty Mutmainnah Nazara with her two colleagues Firchamy Vuqi Aulia and Anisah Qurrotu’Ainii won 3rd place in the National Scientific Writing Competition under the guidance of Dr. Wiko Arif Wibowo S.Si. This competition was organized by the Porseni of the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara from January 5th to February 25th, 2023 with the theme “Implementation of the Smart Farming Concept in Realizing Sustainable Agriculture in Indonesia after the Covid-19 Pandemic”. The activity took place in three stages, abstract submission, full paper submission, and the final event which was the presentation of works for the 10 teams that passed in front of the jury.

This time, Qisty and her team chose the agro-complex subtheme, with the working title “Implementation of the Grafting-Digital Gene Expression Method on Cacao Plants (Theobroma cacao) as a Leading Commodity in the IKN Region (Capital of the Archipelago)“. The background for writing this scientific paper is the problem of flooding that occurred in one of the IKN sub-districts and the threat of decreasing cocoa production in the region. Based on the problems that have been described in the area, Qisty and the team plan to find a solution by initiating a breakthrough of a grafting method based on the Digital Gene Expression Profile which shows the compatibility of the two plants to be grafted.

Through this method, two types of cacao plant varieties are combined to produce high-quality plants that are resistant to pests and diseases caused by flooding which are expected to become the leading commodity of IKN. Through this work, Qisty and her team also hope to provide benefits of the application of Digital Gene Expression Profile-based grafting technology to the public. They also hope, through this competition, they can encourage and motivate other students.

Representatives of the SDGs Campus Ambassadors at Gadjah Mada University with members Anis Rahmatillah S1 Biology class of 2021 and Sulthan Aflahudin S1 Regional Development class of 2020 won 3rd Place in the Innovation Category at the 2022 SDGs Campus Ambassador Selection Competition in December 2022. The awards were given on the second day of the SDGs Annual Conference event , 2 December 2022 which will be held in a hybrid manner.

Assessment of the competition is carried out based on activity proposals that support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the university and community and support the SDGs Center program of each university. The winners of the competition are divided into 5 categories which are the inspiration category, the implementation category, the innovation category, the outreach category, and the participation category. The division of this category is based on the substance of the activity proposal made by the participants.

On this occasion, Anis Rahmatillah brought up the title of the proposal “OPTIMIZATION OF GREEN OPEN SPACE IN A DISABILITY-FRIENDLY CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT AS AN EFFORT FOR THE SUCCESS OF SDGS 2030.” Based on this title, Anis highlighted the green open spaces in the UGM campus environment which are still not very disability-friendly. In addition, in her research during the preparation of the proposal, UGM itself does not yet have written regulations regarding the provision of disability-friendly facilities in every green open space development within the UGM campus. Anis suggests that the preparation of a strategic study (policy brief) regarding standards for the development of disability-friendly green open spaces and also socialization of this strategic study to the entire UGM academic community are necessary. Anis hopes that groups of people with disabilities can more freely use green open spaces on the UGM campus so that there are no gaps like the tenth point of the Sustainable Development Goals.