Annas Solihin, a graduate student from the Faculty of Education at Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Unesa), has attracted national attention after being named one of the best graduates in the university’s 118th graduation ceremony, completing his master’s program with a perfect GPA of 4.00 and an extraordinary record of 142 registered intellectual property rights (HKI).
Coming from Sampang, a small town in the island of Madura, Annas faced serious financial difficulties during his undergraduate studies at Unesa. Instead of taking a leave of absence, he chose to work as a scout instructor at three schools simultaneously to finance his education and ultimately secure a place in the master’s program.
“I decided not to take a break from my studies. I worked as a scout instructor to support myself financially while continuing my education,” Annas explained in an interview with local media.
Once enrolled in the master’s program at the Faculty of Education, Annas began working on his thesis from the first semester, treating research as a continuous process rather than a final requirement. His project secured funding from the Directorate of Research, Technology, and Community Service (DPPM BIMA) under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, placing him in the science and technology research cluster.
By June 2025, his article had been published in a Scopus Q1-indexed international journal, giving him the option to graduate without a thesis defense—a privilege he deliberately declined to honor the formal academic process. “I believe the academic process should be completed properly and with dignity. Even though I qualified to graduate without a defense, I chose to go through the normal process,” he stated.
To date, Annas has published more than 23 scientific papers in national and international journals, a remarkable achievement for a master’s graduate. Parallel to his publications, he has amassed 142 intellectual property certificates, most of them in the form of copyright recordation for educational products he designed, such as teaching media, learning models, and teaching modules.
Local coverage highlights that this accumulation of intellectual property rights started from his undergraduate years and continued consistently through his master’s studies. This level of IP portfolio is considered exceptionally rare for a graduate student in Indonesia’s higher education system.
Annas is known primarily in the field of mathematics education, where he integrates ethnopedagogy—the use of local culture as a learning resource—into classroom practice. One of his highlighted innovations is mathematics learning media that incorporate Madurese cultural elements, including the traditional bull-racing festival “karapan sapi”, to make abstract mathematical concepts more relatable for primary school students.
Annas’s achievement represents a significant milestone in Indonesian higher education, particularly in demonstrating how graduate students can combine rigorous academic research with practical intellectual property development.