Research is a factor which plays a major role in improving the welfare of a nation. Indonesia as a country with natural resource diversity cannot always depend the economy on natural resources.

The recent economic paradigm shifts from a resource-based economy to a research-based economy. To realize the research-based economy, Indonesia still faces some  future challenges, thus needs to find a solution.

At its participation in the Filadelfia music competition, in Italy this year, Indonesia was represented by six students of Yogyakarta State University (YSU) who collectively participated in the category of classical guitar. Roby Handoyo, Adi Suprayogi, Vaizal Andrians, and Gita Puspita Asri, belonging to the group of guitar quartet "Nocturnal", while the next group, "Duo Poeticos", consisting of Birul Walidaini and Bagus Mardian, both alumnus of the Faculty of Language and Art YSU, who at the moment are currently completing their studies at the Università della Calabria (UNICAL) Italy.

The Yogyakarta State University’s students successfully introduced an electric bicycle as a new product in the field of technopreneur. The Android-based electric bike made by Dangin and others is labeled as Astrobike and it has two types, for man and woman. With the excellent build-quality and the eye catching design, Astrobike managed to attract attention at some technology exhibitions. "Astrobike was originated from the condition, that I ,as a student. do not have a motorcycle, then I tweaked my own bike to have the same ability with a motorcycle." said Dangin as the inventor.

Two students of Faculty of Education (FE), Yogyakarta State University (YSU) namely Limas Assifa Suryaningtyas and Maulida Fitriyani were delegated to Sumatra Utara University (29/4) to join Horas Scientific Writing Competition with the theme of Up-Book Serial: Promotional-Preventive Media in Providing Health Service for Elementary School Students in Remote Areas (Media Preventif Promotif Dalam Pemenuhan Pelayanan Kesehatan bagi Siswa Sekolah Dasar di Daerah Terpencil).

Joyful faces were clearly expressed by students of 4th,5th, and 6th grade, Muhammadiyah Kemadang Elementary School, Gunung Kidul. The reason was the visit of 9 international students from varying countries on Tuesday (4/5). Those international students are Darmasiswa and Developing Countries Partnership (DCP) scholarship awardees that attend Indonesian language and culture course for a year in Yogyakarta State University (YSU).

Culture is such an important matter for Indonesia as a nation as it becomes the element that preserves the nationalism among citizens. However, if the culture is not well maintained, it is possibly claimed by other nation. Unfortunately, we lost some cultural elements as they have been claimed by neighboring countries. That is the absolute proof of lack of awareness among Indonesian in retaining their culture.

Wrapped in an orange dress, that little girl sat cross-legged. Her hands clutched a gunungan (Mountain-shaped puppet) marking the beginning of the event. The chiming sound of gamelan (traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali, Indonesia) reverberated and her little voice uttered the play of “Gathotkaca Senopati”. The scene marked the event of the Little Pupeteer Festival VI held by YSU’s Education Museum of Indonesia. That little girl’s name was Elvia Trisniawati, one of the participants of the event coming from Blora.

The student of Geography Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Yogyakarta State University, class of 2015, Yuli Widiyatmoko, won first runner-up in the event of the 1st Indonesia Geographic Student Summit 2016 Infographics Contest organized by the Indonesian Student Association of Geography at the University of Muhammadiyah Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara on 27-29 April, 2016. The event was attended by 27 universities from all over Indonesia. Among them are the University of Indonesia, Institute of Technology Bandung, Institute of Agriculture Bogor, Gadjah Mada University, and many more.

A robot team from Yogyakarta State University (YSU) once again obtained a remarkable achievement in Indonesian Robot Contest Regional III 2016 in Imam Bardjo Auditorium, Diponegoro University Semarang on 21-23 April 2016. YSU was competing with other 30 universities in Central Java, Yogyakarta Special Province, and Kalimantan. Those teams passed the elimination stage previously in their respective province.

Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Yogyakarta State University (FMS YSU) in collaboration with the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) organized a Workshop on Active Learning in the Sciences (22/4), at the courtroom of the faculty. The workshop was attended by 20 teachers from various schools in Yogyakarta, and also by 20 students. The speaker for the field of physics was Allen Price, PhD (Associate Professor at Emmanuel College Boston, USA) and for the field of biology was Ana R. Otero, Ph.D. DVM (Senior Lecturer at Emmanuel College Boston, USA).