It is our pleasure to welcome you to th 7th International Conference on Biological Sciences 2021. This conference is a biennially event held by the Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, in collaboration with the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

This year the conference’s theme is “Contributing to Global Issues: Current Advances in Biodiversity and Health Research in the Face of Climate Change”. Along with the theme, we have 7 conference topics ranging widely from biosystematics to bioengineering.

This year's conference is also the first time held online due to the global pandemic situation. However, it becomes a blessing in disguise, because the conference becomes accessible to a wider audience and participants from all over the world. The number of participants registered is 223. Among them, 183 participants will present their research. Most of the participants are from Indonesia, but also we have participants from Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, and India.

Besides the participants, the online nature of this conference also allows us to invite speakers from Europe and Australia. There will be Prof. Craig Moritz from Australian National University, Prof. Datin Maryati Mohammed from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia, Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed from University of Leipzig, Germany, Prof. Joana Falcao Salles from University of Groningen Netherlands, and Dr. Nastiti Wijayanti from the Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Because of the time difference, the speakers from Europe will give their talks on the afternoon of the first and second day of the conference.

The output of this conference will be published in the Advances in Biological Sciences Research as a conference proceeding, the Indonesian Journal of Biotechnology, and the Journal of Tropical Biodiversity and Biotechnology.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Indonesian Biology Consortium and the Publishers and Publications Board of Universitas Gadjah Mada which supported this conference. And I also like to thank you for our sponsors which make this conference possible.

I hope this conference will be fruitful for everyone. We look forward to seeing you all at the next ICBS conference.

Dr. Miftahul Ilmi, S.Si., M.Si
Chairman of 7th ICBS 2021