Geography lecturer from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Bachtiar Wahyu Mutaqin, M.Sc., has become the second winner of Ma Thèse en 180 secondes (MT180s) – Indonesia third edition competition that run in the city of Poitiers, France, on 26 June 2018. The competition is held by the French Embassy in Indonesia as part of the 10th Joint Working Group between Indonesia and France, in collaboration with Research, Technology, and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia, Institut Français Indonesia, and Université Confédérale Léonard de Vinci.
MT180s is a competition for doctoral students to present their research in French. Particpants were alloted three minutes to give their presentation using just one slide without animation. “The challenge has been to find a way to explain our research in a language understood by the audience that has different knowledge backgrounds,” said Bachtiar on Tuesday (3/7).
In the competition, Bachtiar explained the research titled Geomorphic Impacts of Eruption of Mt. Samalas in 1257 in Lombok and Sumbawa Coastal Areas. Winners were determined based on the quality and originality of the presentation, stage performance, and their ability to draw the attention of the audience. Bachtiar has been declared the second winner.
Bachtiar has actually been entitled to represent Indonesia in the International Final of MT180s to be held in Swiss in September 2018 like Gemala Hapsari from MT180s 2016 and Maya Puspita from MT180s 2017. Unfortunately, this will not happen.
“Indonesia is not allowed to take part in the International Final of MT180s in Swiss because the MT180s Indonesia has been done in Poitiers, not Indonesia,” said Prof. Dr. Ing. Nicolas Gascoin, DEA, MBA, Attache of Scientific Cooperation and Technology of the French Embassy.
Even so, Bachtiar was thankful following his win. He appreciated the Faculty of Geography UGM, particularly Environmental Geomorphology and Disaster Mitigation, Laboratoire de Géographie Physique UMR 8591 – Meudon France, and Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan as scholarship grantor. “My success is thanks to their support,” said Bachtiar.