Some 300 representatives from UGM Graduate School attended the first lecture at the Grha Sabha Pramana, UGM, Wednesday, (16/9). Also attending the lecture were Rector Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M.Eng., Ph.D and other members of the University's and Faculties' leadership.
Dr. Ir. Budi Prasetyo Widyobroto, D.E.A., D.E.S.S., Director of Academic Administration, said that during the academic year of 2009-2010, UGM admitted 4,612 students consisting of 3,697 students at S2 programme and 915 students at S3. There will be an increase in the number of the students as several magister study programmes are still processing registration.
Budi added that there are 41 foreign students of the entire number of students. On funding, 65% of all students pay their own tuitions whilst 35% are funded by the BPPS scholarships. On place of origin, some 45% hail from outside Java while the rest (55%) from the island of Java.
Meanwhile, the Rector extended his gratitude to the students who have decided to study at UGM. He mentioned that these students were one of the agents expected to be able to develop knowledge for civilisation, happiness, the nation's welfare and humanity. In addition, the Rector expected that Graduate School students would be able to solve problems that are likely to occur in the future.
The first lecture was marked with a presentation on Reducing the Risk of Natural Disasters by Prof. Ir. Dwikorita Karnawati, M.S.c., Ph.D., the Head of the Geological Engineering department. She said that these are done by making adjustments to prepare against geological phenomena, such as identification and mapping of the level of danger, the level of analysis and disaster risk management, monitoring and early warning system, as well as education for the community in order that they become more vigilant and alerted to natural phenomena.
Furthermore, efforts to reduce the risks are not made by technical approaches only, but also multi-disciplines. “To minimise potential socio-economic losses, comprehensive and integrated efforts are required. The emphasis is on the increased resilience against disasters,†she explained.