On Wednesday 8 February 2023, the Faculty of Biology UGM received a visit from the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Community Service, and UGM Alumni, Dr. Arie Sujito, S.Sos., M.Sc., UGM Director of Community Service, Dr. dr. Rustamaji, M.Kes., and Director Secretary of Community Service UGM, Dr. Djarot Heru Santosa, M.Hum. The visit began with a discussion on program development in the KPTU Meeting Room of the Faculty of Biology UGM, followed by a tour around the campus of the UGM Faculty of Biology to review the production sites of POC (Liquid Organic Fertilizer) and organic fertilizers produced by the Faculty of Biology.

Dr. Arie Sujito, S.Sos., M.Sc., expressed the importance of community participation around the UGM campus to participate in activities carried out by UGM such as KKN, Research and Community Service. There are 3 very strategic hamlets that are the belt of UGM, namely Sagan hamlet, Blimbingsari hamlet and Terban hamlet. UGM will provide assistance to the community around the UGM campus to be able to supply the needs of UGM and hotels around the UGM campus.

On that occasion, they also discussed the IUP (International Undergraduate Program) program at the Faculty of Biology UGM which has been running and this year there will be the first batch of graduates. The IUP program also provides opportunities for students to take part in KKN activities organized by the university, but in practice there are still some obstacles which yet to be solved, for example the number of credits that must be taken, the time for the KKN to be carried out. Dr. Djarot Heru Santosa, M.Hum., will report and discuss this problem at the university level in order to get the best solution and can be applied to this year’s KKN.

The UGM Faculty of Biology will also play an active role in the management of organic waste generated from the environment around UGM and internally from UGM. The waste will be processed into organic fertilizer and POC which can then be reused by the community around the UGM campus, and can also be sold to earn UGM income.

Biology undergraduate students at Gadjah Mada University made another achievement at the national level by winning 3rd place in the National Scientific Writing Competition. This achievement was achieved by students Susy Wijayanti and Umi Salamah from Biology Class of 2018 under the guidance of Dr. Ardaning Nuriliani, S. Si., M. Kes. This competition is a competition held by the University of North Sumatra with the theme “Gen Z Innovation and Strategy in the Environmentally Friendly Living Movement”. This activity aims to be a forum for channeling student creations & innovations for a healthy generation.

This final activity took place on November 25 2022 online at the University of North Sumatra which was attended by students from universities throughout Indonesia. This competition was carried out in four stages, which were abstract submission, assessment of scientific papers, announcement of the top 10, and the culmination of which was the presentation of the paper in front of the judges.

In this competition the team raised the title “Phytoremediation of Domestic, Industrial and Agricultural Liquid Waste by Photobioreactor-Based Microalgae”. According to the team, the idea was motivated by the high increase in global population, industrialization, and economic progress which had an impact on increasing waste and decreasing water quality. This prompted the team to conduct research to find an efficient method of managing this waste. One of the biological agents that can act as a natural bioremediator for managing waste is microalgae. Hence, the waste becomes safer for the environment.

Team preparation was carried out a week before the online presentation activities by preparing presentation materials and materials. The team regularly practices so that they are able to provide clear and firm explanations of the papers being presented. The team was able to convey ideas and answer all the jury’s questions straightforwardly. They said that this was none other than the result of the team’s hard work and the support of all parties.

With this competition, they really hope to be able to provide encouragement and support for students who are interested in the field of scientific work to convey their best ideas through their intelligence in thinking. In addition, the team also hopes that through this competition it can bring and make the Faculty of Biology and Gadjah Mada University proud in the future.