Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) won five awards at the 2025 Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa (PKM) Awards organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia in Jakarta on Sunday (Oct. 26).
The five awards were: Best University for Student Creativity Program (PKM) Development in Cluster I, Most Productive University in Funded PKM Schemes in Cluster I, Most Productive University in Incentive-Based PKM Schemes in Cluster I, Most Informative PKM Output Student Group 2025, and Best Written Futuristic Idea PKM Student Group 2025.
Director of Student Affairs at UGM, Dr. Hempri Suyatna, expressed his appreciation for the collective hard work of the students. Along with his gratitude, he emphasized that this achievement marks not an end but a new beginning.
“I think this doesn’t stop here. This is just the beginning. The real culmination will be the Indonesian National Student Science Competition (Pekan Ilmiah Mahasiswa Nasional/PIMNAS) taking place at the end of November. We hope these awards will motivate both mentors and students to give their best performance at PIMNAS in Makassar,” said Dr. Suyatna on Tuesday (Nov. 4) at the office.
For Dr. Suyatna, this accomplishment demonstrates UGM’s strong commitment to fostering student development activities across the university. He explained that UGM currently has 26 competition-based student communities, each supported by teams of lecturers and expert practitioners dedicated to guiding students in maximizing their potential.
“Coaching and mentorship are key to achieving the best results,” he emphasized.
In addition to the PKM Awards, Dr. Suyatna explained that UGM has also secured several major accomplishments this year.
These include placing in the top three at the Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran (MTQ), a significant improvement from last year’s top ten, winning the overall champion at the Indonesian Flying Robot Contest (KRTI) with three gold medals out of the five available, and most recently, earning two gold medals at the National Student Competition in Business, Management, and Finance (KBMK), the highest among all participants.
In addition, several other competitions await, such as Satria Data, the Outstanding Student Competition (Mapres), and the Abdi Daya Ormawa Competition.
“Structurally, in addition to the usual performance incentives, we also offer recognition for achievements and extracurricular activities. We hope these incentives and recognitions will further enhance and optimize student performance,” he said.
Looking ahead, maintaining this level of achievement and productivity presents a challenge, particularly in harmonizing various creativity programs within and beyond the directorate. One strategy to address this, according to Dr. Suyatna, is through cross-directorate collaboration.
“By fostering cross-unit collaboration, programs can run more synergistically and effectively,” he explained.
In closing, Dr. Suyatna emphasized that behind every accomplishment lies a meaningful process. He believes that when the process is carried out sincerely, the results will follow.
“I’m confident that our students already have strong initiative and enthusiasm. We have many outstanding talents; now it’s just a matter of nurturing them through more integrative and comprehensive mentoring. The university merely facilitates what students already possess. So, keep your spirits high, never give up, and always nurture your need for achievement,” he concluded.
Author: Leony
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Rajendra Arya
Photographs: UGM Directorate of Student Affairs