Siti Zubaidah, a laboratory technician from the Animal Feed Science Laboratory (IMT) at the UGM Faculty of Animal Science, was declared to have passed her dissertation defense on Friday (Jan. 10).
Zubaidah is the first non-teaching staff (tendik) to receive a doctoral degree after successfully defending her dissertation, “The Use of Palm Kernel Cake with Enzyme Supplementation for Productivity, Carcass Quality, and Gut Health of Broiler Chickens.”
“Alhamdulillah, I’m certainly happy to have finished on time, as per my initial three-year target,” Zubaidah said after the defense.
Zubaidah was interested in researching palm kernel cake due to its potential as livestock feed. Palm kernel cake is a by-product of palm kernel oil production. Its production is relatively high in Indonesia, and it contains 14% – 19% crude protein, making it a potential feed source, particularly for poultry.
However, palm kernel cake has the drawback of containing high levels of crude fiber, especially mannan.
Poultry lacks the enzyme to degrade mannan, making it necessary to supplement with external enzymes such as mannanase, NSPase, and protease to improve nutrient digestibility. This results in increased productivity, better carcass quality, and improved gut health in broiler chickens.
Zubaidah completed her doctoral program in 2 years and 11 months under the supervision of Professor Zuprizal (promoter), Dr. Bambang Ariyadi (co-promoter), and Professor Chusnul Hanim (co-promoter).
She also revealed that her journey to complete her doctoral studies was supported by her family.
“Coincidentally, my husband is also a graduate of the Faculty of Animal Science at Diponegoro University, so he could be a discussion partner during my studies,” she said.
Zubaidah did not forget to express her gratitude to the staff at the IMT Laboratory and the leadership of the Faculty of Animal Science. With the results she has achieved, Zubaidah hopes to inspire other non-teaching staff to continue learning and improving their knowledge in their respective fields.
“It certainly requires effort. I had to write my dissertation and journal at night, and I even spent my weekends completing my tasks,” the mother of two sons recalled.
Zubaidah began her education with a bachelor’s degree at the UGM Faculty of Animal Science in 2000 and continued her master’s degree at UGM’s Graduate School in 2010. Born in Sleman on Oct. 2, 1981, she completed her doctoral studies independently and was registered as a student in the 2021 doctoral cohort at the UGM Faculty of Animal Science.
Reporting by: Animal Science UGM/Satria
Author: Triya Andriyani
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya