UNIPMA – A team of students from the Economic Education Study Program at Universitas PGRI Madiun (UNIPMA) successfully won 3rd place in the National Scientific Writing Competition (LKTI) organized by Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia in collaboration with Akademika Riset Indonesia on July 25–26, 2026.

The competition, which was held online through Zoom, carried the theme "Synergy of Youth Creativity and Intellectual Capacity for a Sustainable Indonesia." The event was participated in by around 42 student teams from various universities across Indonesia, aiming to encourage innovation, collaboration, critical thinking skills, and scientific research development among the younger generation.

The UNIPMA team consisted of Naura Hafi Azzahra as the team leader, along with members Dista Aurel May Sally, Iyyakameiza Putri Wihasta, Ima Agustina, and Rafika Frida Arisdyanti. In the competition, they presented a scientific paper entitled "The Role of Fintech in PEKKA (Women Heads of Households) Economic Empowerment as Small Entrepreneurs: Towards Gender Equality."

The paper highlighted the utilization of financial technology (fintech) as a solution to improve access to capital, financial services, and financial literacy for women heads of households who run small businesses.

Iyyakameiza Putri Wihasta explained that the idea was developed based on efforts to find solutions to community economic challenges through the utilization of technological advancements.

"This idea focuses on how financial technology can provide broader opportunities for women heads of households to develop the businesses they operate," she said on Monday (3/8).

The journey toward achieving the award involved several stages, including research, scientific paper preparation, and presentation preparation before the judges from Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia and Akademika Riset Indonesia. The assessment covered the quality of ideas, novelty, theoretical foundation, research methods, and participants’ ability to defend their work.

In addition to receiving guidance from their supervising lecturer Dr. Ramadhan Prasetya Wibawa, M.Pd., the team also received special guidance and assistance in presentation training from Dr. Wachidatul Linda Yuhanna, S.Pd., M.Si. from the UNIPMA Student Affairs Board (BKM).

Iyyakameiza stated that the feedback provided, both in improving the content and presentation techniques, greatly helped the team become more confident when presenting before the judges.

"The guidance and feedback provided greatly helped us prepare our presentation, from refining the material to improving our delivery techniques so we could be more confident," she said.

Iyyakameiza added that the team’s success could not be separated from the cooperation of all members who carried out their respective roles, from gathering references and preparing the content to finalizing the presentation.

"Each member contributed according to their responsibilities, allowing the process from writing the paper to the presentation stage to run well," she added.

In the competition, supervising lecturer Dr. Ramadhan Prasetya Wibawa, M.Pd., appreciated the students’ hard work and teamwork throughout the competition process.

"This achievement shows that students are capable of developing ideas through scientific research. Hopefully, this accomplishment will motivate them to continue improving their writing and research skills and participate in various academic competitions," he said.

The team hopes that this achievement can motivate them to continue developing research skills and producing scientific works that provide benefits for society.

"Hopefully, this achievement will become a step for us to continue learning, creating, and encouraging other students to be brave in participating in academic competitions," said Iyyakameiza.