Kotimah, an undergraduate student from the 2022 cohort of the Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), secured a remarkable achievement by winning first place in the Essay Competition held during Cendekia Days 2024, organized by UGM’s Cendekia Teknika. Khotimah collaborated with Rahayu Murti Ayuningtyas from the 2022 cohort of the Faculty of Engineering in the ”Biochem” team.

The Cendekia Days Essay Competition is an annual event aiming to promote critical thinking and innovation among students. The 2024 competition carried the theme: “Digital Native, Green Activists: Synergy for a Better Planet.” Participants could choose from sub-themes including energy and the environment, food security, technology and digitalization, creative industries, education, and sustainable development. The event seeks to broaden students’ knowledge in science and technology, foster innovative attitudes, and cultivate their roles as agents of change in advancing green technology for a sustainable future.

The competition, including registration and essay submission, took place from September 21 to October 12, 2024. The finalists were announced on October 26, 2024, with the top eight teams advancing to the final presentation stage on November 10, 2024, followed by the awarding ceremony on November 16, 2024. Among 152 submissions, Team Biochem achieved the highest score during the initial essay evaluation. Team Biochem successfully maintained its leading position and was ultimately awarded First Place.

The Biochem team’s essay focused on the energy and environment sub-theme, presenting their innovative concept of a Sustainable Electric Nanogenerator (SENG). SENG is a groundbreaking green energy solution designed to convert wasted mechanical energy into electricity. The innovation addresses critical environmental challenges, particularly those arising from the hydrodesulfurization process in petroleum refining, which poses significant risks of releasing hazardous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into ecosystems. These substances are associated with severe health risks, including cancer, immune system damage, and miscarriages.

The SENG innovation is polymer-based and sulfur-rich, offering three key advantages: economic feasibility, sustainability, and environmentally friendly performance. This breakthrough demonstrates the potential for transformative contributions in renewable energy technologies, aligning with global efforts to address pressing environmental issues.

Yogyakarta – Kotimah, an undergraduate student from the Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has once again achieved a remarkable achievement by securing Second Place in the Biology Scientific Writing Competition. The event was themed “Enhancing the Role of Students in Building a Golden Indonesia 2045 through the Synergy of Culture, Innovative Education, and Ethics to Shape a Quality and Integrity-Driven Young Generation.” with sub-themes that aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The competition, including registration and essay submission, took place from August 12 to September 25, 2024. The finalists were announced on October 10, 2024, with the top 3 essays advancing to the final presentation stage and awards ceremony on October 17, 2024, at Universitas Siliwangi in Tasikmalaya.

Kotimah’s essays address the global issue of plastic waste, particularly non-biodegradable polyethylene, which constitutes 35% of annual plastic production. With approximately half of all plastic products being single-use items, polyethylene waste contributes significantly to environmental degradation. Its natural decomposition can take over 500 years, during which microplastics form, disrupting ecosystems and accumulating in organisms. Current disposal methods, such as incineration and chemical degradation, often release toxic substances and require costly catalysts, further complicating the issue.

To tackle this challenge, Kotimah developed a novel approach utilizing lipase enzymes from microorganisms to biodegrade polyethylene. These lipase enzymes, sourced from the anaerobic bacterium Pelosinus fermentans, demonstrated the capability to initiate polyethylene biodegradation.

This environmentally friendly solution presents numerous benefits, such as the ability to be mass-produced using renewable resources while remaining non-toxic, effective, and sustainable. By utilizing biological methods, Kotimah’s innovation provides a viable alternative for addressing the environmental challenges posed by plastic waste.

Copenhagen, 13 December 2024 – The Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has again taken strategic steps in strengthening academic and research networks in the international arena. This time, through a visit to the University of Copenhagen (KU), one of the best universities in Denmark and Europe. KU is ranked 100th in the QS World University Ranking and 40th in the fields of life sciences and medicine.

In an effort to initiate work, the The Faculty of Biology UGM team consisting of Prof. Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc. (Dean), Dr. Eko Agus Suyono, M.App.Sc. (Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Collaboration and Alumni Affairs), and Dr.rer.nat. Abdul Rahman Siregar, M.Biotech., visited the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen on Friday (13/12).

On this occasion, the team met with Prof. Thomas Sicheritz-Ponten who is the director of the Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics (CEH). This study center studies the relationship between the host genome and the microbes that live with it. Microbes are no longer considered passive components, but play an active role in influencing the properties of the host organism. This comprehensive approach is referred to as the hologenomic approach, where the study of the genomes of host organisms and microbes is combined to understand their interactions, the role of these relationships in ecology and evolution, their influence on the development of life on earth, and also how to exploit these relationships for the benefit of humans. CEH uses advanced technology and computational methods to answer these questions through theoretical and experimental research.

Apart from that, the team also discussed with Assoc. Prof. Bent Petersen, who is part of the Computation Biodiscovery research group. Bent introduced one of their research projects, namely “Omics of the Rainforests”. In this research, Bent and his team integrated “omics” data with machine learning algorithms to explore the medical potential and biotechnological applications of biodiversity in the Amazon and Malaysian rainforests. It was on this occasion that the team discussed and explored opportunities to start collaborative research initiatives in Indonesia, through the Faculty of Biology UGM network and also the Indonesian Biology Consortium (KOBI). Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM, Prof. Budi invited Thomas and Bent to attend the International Conference for Biological Sciences (ICBS) which will be held in October next year. This invitation also provided an opportunity for Thomas and Bent to provide a workshop related to the computational natural drug discovery project.

The Faculty of Biology team also had the opportunity to discuss with Maria Bollerup from Nixie Expedition regarding research collaborations and joint expeditions with the University of Copenhagen. Maria and Nixie Expedition have previously been involved in many collaborative research projects in Indonesia, one of which is the Buteng Expedition together with ROLEX. It is hoped that this will be an opportunity for the Biology Faculty to expand its research collaboration with world partners.

This visit is an important milestone in the Faculty of Biology’s efforts to continue to improve the quality of education and research through collaboration with international partners, especially the University of Copenhagen. This collaboration also reflects the UGM Faculty of Biology’s commitment to supporting sustainable development goals, especially inclusive quality education (SDGs 4) as well as increasing recognition of global partnerships (SDGs 17).

Copenhagen, 13 December 2024 – The Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has again taken strategic steps in strengthening academic and research networks in the international level. This time, through a visit to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), one of the best technical universities in Denmark and Europe. DTU is ranked 109th in the QS World University Ranking and 5th in the field of Biotechnology based on the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking).

DTU Biosustain, a flagship research center under the Novo Nordisk Foundation, was one of the focuses of this visit. This department plays a major role in creating sustainable solutions through the development of microbial cell factories. Since its founding in 2011, this department has given birth to more than 30 start-up companies in the field of biotechnology. This visit was made possible through a connection from one of the Faculty of Biology UGM teaching staff, Matin Nuhamunada, who has just completed his doctoral studies at DTU Biosustain.

In an effort to initiate further collaboration, the Faculty of Biology UGM team consisting of Prof. Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc. (Dean), Dr. Eko Agus Suyono, M.App.Sc. (Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Collaboration and Alumni Affairs), and Dr.rer.nat. Abdul Rahman Siregar, M.Biotech., visited DTU Biosustain on Friday (13/12).

The visit began with a discussion with two group leaders from DTU Biosustain, namely Dr. Pablo Cruz Morales and Dr. Sheila Ingemann Jensen. Dr. Pablo leads research in the field of Yeast Natural Products, with a focus on the exploration and modification of chemicals produced by fungi to develop new molecules such as medicines, sustainable fuels and polymers, in an effort to create a new era of environmentally friendly biochemical industries. Meanwhile, Dr. Sheila leads the Sustainable Microbial Applications group, which focuses on developing molecular tools for bacterial engineering to create efficient microbial cell factories for the production of chemicals from renewable resources such as lignocellulosic waste and CO₂ derivatives. This discussion discusses the potential for research collaboration, especially to accelerate bioprospecting of biological resources in Indonesia in a sustainable manner. This discussion also opened up opportunities for lecturers and students at the Faculty of Biology UGM to carry out research visits at DTU Biosustain.

Apart from that, the Faculty of Biology UGM team also met with Dr. Kai Blin, co-principal investigator from the Natural Products Genome Mining research group led by Prof. Tilmann Weber. On this occasion, the team gained insight into the importance of information technology (IT) infrastructure to support the development of bioinformatics research. For example, the antiSMASH analysis service, an antibiotic search software developed by this group, is supported by computing facilities in the form of 8 servers at DTU with a capacity of 784 CPUs and 3 TB RAM. AntiSMASH itself has been used more than 1 million times by various researchers from all over the world and has more than 6,500 scientific citations.

This visit is an important milestone in the Faculty of Biology’s efforts to continue to improve the quality of education and research through collaboration with international partners, especially the Technical University of Denmark. This collaboration also reflects the UGM Faculty of Biology’s commitment to supporting sustainable development goals, especially inclusive quality education (SDGs 4) as well as increasing recognition of global partnerships (SDGs 17).