Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta continues to carry out and encourage various scientific activities both at the student and lecturer level to support the scientific climate on its campus, This time, UMY initiated the implementation of the first national thesis conference which was attended by 16 universities in Indonesia.
The conference, which was held online at the UMY central campus on Tuesday (27/10) was titled UMY Undergraduate Conference (Grace) 2020 and raised the theme “Armoring the Youth to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This conference is the first conference that accommodates theses or scientific works from students who are currently carrying out their undergraduate and diploma studies.
This conference was meant to be carried out on August 18, however, it was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the committee and the participants. At the time of registration closing, the number of abstracts collected was 1,069 for two focal points, SSHE. (Social Science, Humanities, and Education) and NSTE (Natural Science, Technology, and Engineering). The entries were put through a selection process and 569 papers passed, and in the final selection 250 participants were selected. The participants then presented their work via online video.
The UMY Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Dr. Ir. Sukamta, ST., MT., IPM., stated that this conference was different from other conferences because it was the first forum for national students to express their ideas and have the opportunity to be published. “Through UMY Grace, we provide opportunities, facilities, and media for students to publish their research and final assignments, so that they do not stay in the archives but can be published at least in ISBN proceedings,” he said.
Regarding the theme of UMY Grace which raised Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sukamta explained that this was motivated by the view that in the future, efforts to carry out development must be oriented towards sustainable development from various aspects. “The hope is that through this conference, the students’ confidence on their scientific work will increase, and they can show the public that they have ideas and contributions to carry out sustainable development,” he added.
In addition to the conference, UMY Grace also had a Talk Show session which was filled by the Rector of UMY, Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto, MP, IPM, Nurhayati Subakat, CEO of Paragon, Fahd Pahdepie, alumni of HI UMY and an entrepreneur, and dr. Gamal Albinsaid, a doctor who is also a health innovator, social entrepreneur, and inspiration for many.
UMY Grace was entirely organized by student representatives from student organizations at the university and faculty levels. Iqbal Khatami, President of BEM UMY as well as Chairman of the UMY Grace Committee, explained that young people have a very important role in terms of sustainable development. “We as the young generation are not only be talking about how ready we are in the future to replace the older generation, but also about the extent to which the younger generation is involved and can participate actively in local, national and global issues,” he said.
According to Iqbal, the pandemic period is not an obstacle to being more productive in writing. He even revealed that some participants raised the COVID-19 pandemic as the topic of their paper, and these scientific works can support students in the future. “My hope is that this activity can be a trigger for students to be active in the world of literacy, such as writing and publication. In addition, We hope that UMY Grace will not only be an activity related to publication, but also a trigger for other parties to carry out the same activity,” he added. (ays)
