Aksara Mahasiswa 2026 Programme Opens, Focusing on Food Security and Waste
Jakarta (ANTARA) — The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek) has officially launched the 2026 Student Aksara Programme to provide a platform for students to apply innovative technological solutions to various problems in society.
I Ketut Adnyana, Director of Research and Community Service (DPPM) at Kemdiktisaintek, explained that the initiative is designed so that innovations born in campus laboratories do not end up as mere stacks of academic journals.
“This programme is a manifestation of science and technology and the idealism of students to mobilise communities and provide solutions independently,” Adnyana said at the launch event in Jakarta on Monday.
For the 2026 edition, he outlined that the programme is divided into two main schemes: Aksara Peduli and Aksara Sirkular.
The first scheme, Aksara Peduli, focuses on addressing priority issues in target regions, covering the sectors of food security, energy transition, health, and the creative, green and blue economies.
Meanwhile, the Aksara Sirkular scheme is specifically designed to respond to the national waste management emergency, ranging from education on source separation and strengthening the institutional capacity of waste banks to the adoption of a circular economy.
To ensure each innovation can be implemented optimally, the government has prepared a substantial budget ceiling of between Rp80 million and Rp120 million for each proposal that passes selection.
“One requirement to bear in mind, to avoid major budget revisions, is that at least 60 per cent of the proposed budget must be allocated to the application of technology and innovation for target partners,” Adnyana reminded.
Complementing these technical guidelines, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mendiktisaintek), Brian Yuliarto, also took the opportunity to advise student teams to be humble when engaging with communities and to avoid intellectual arrogance.
“One thing we must always remember is that we do not come into the community to show that the campus has all the answers. Communities have local knowledge and are learning partners as well as the main agents of change,” Minister Brian said.
The socialisation and proposal submission period will run throughout July 2026. From August 2026, the process will continue with selection, the announcement of funded proposals, and contract signing.
Subsequently, the field implementation phase, with a duration of 160 effective working hours, will take place from August to December 2026. During this period, participants are required to submit progress reports in October 2026, followed by internal monitoring and evaluation (Monev) as well as by the DPPM team of Kemdiktisaintek in November 2026.
The entire programme will be concluded in December 2026 with the submission of final reports and the holding of an Impact Seminar. Further information can be accessed via the official Instagram account @bima.kemdiktisaintek.