Nagoya University Asian Satellite Campus-Philippines holds 2018 Entrance Ceremony; two new Filipino doctoral students admitted

Los Baños, Laguna-  Nagoya University (NU), Japan officially announced the admission of two new Filipino doctoral students to pursue the Doctoral Program in Bioagricultural Sciences under its Transnational Programs for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries during its Entrance Ceremony held on 9 November 2018 at the SEARCA Umali Auditorium, College, Laguna, Philippines.  The Program is being implemented by the Nagoya University Asian Satellite Campuses Institute (NUASCI),  Japan through its Philippine satellite campus based at University of the Philipppines Los Baños (UPLB).

      
Prof. Fumio Isoda                                                Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez

Prof. Fumio Isoda, Director of the NU Asian Satellite Campuses Institute in Japan and the satellite campuses in the Philippines, welcomed everyone to the ceremony, which is a yearly activity of the satellite campus and  noted that this is the fourth batch of Filipino students admitted to the transnational programs by Nagoya University.  He expressed optimism that the first student admitted in April 2016 will complete his PhD soon and join the graduation by March 2019.  He said that the two new students admitted in October 2018 semester will bring to eight the total number of Filipino students at the satellite campus in the Philippines since its establishment in 2015. He expressed sincere appreciation to UPLB for hosting the satellite campus. 

Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., Chancellor of UPLB and Chair of the Governing Board of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), welcomed the Nagoya University professors and all guests to UPLB and expressed his appreciation for the scholarship grants from NU. He also thanked NU for forging a partnership with the University of the Philippines System starting with a joint scholarship for PhD intended for faculty, researchers, and professional staff of UP.  He lauded NU’s significant contribution to the development of human resources in the region and emphasized that many faculty members and researchers of UPLB are graduates of Japanese universities.


Dr. Pag-asa Gaspillo

To inspire the ongoing and new students, Dr. Pag-asa Gaspillo, President of the Nagoya University Alumni- Philippine Branch, stressed that “bringing the Graduate Program to the home front via partnership and collaboration between Nagoya University and University of the Philippines  is a positive initiative to increase human knowledge assets.” She shared her experience as a young mother doing doctoral studies in Nagoya University under a scholarship granted by Ronpaku-JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) and the Philippines' Department of Science and Technology.  She gave advice to the two new students as follows:  “1. Always welcome the challenges ahead of you, 2. Do not be frightened, 3. Believe in yourself and 4. Remain focused and motivated. When things become complicated and mixed up, just stop for a minute, close your eyes and take a deep deep breath, utter a little prayer then think of the successful people around you and who came before you. Always be inspired, be engaged, and direct all energy into finishing priority tasks that matters to your study.”

The new students officially awarded admission at NU are:  Ms. Kim Nyka C. Perdiguerra, University Researcher I of the Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science, UPLB; and Ms. Marjorie P. De Ocampo, Associate Scientist at the Molecular Breeding Strategic Innovations Platform of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). 

    
Ms. Kim Nyka Perdiguerra                                                               Ms. Marjorie De Ocampo

Meanwhile, Prof. Akira Yamauchi, Director of the NU International Center for Research and Education in Agriculture (ICREA), presented updates and the progress of research of the five ongoing PhD students.  He expressed hope that the students will complete their study programs within three years from the start of their respective dates of admission.  Fund sources for  ongoing and new students are the NU-SEARCA joint scholarship for PhD Research; the UP-NU Joint PhD Research Scholarship; and Nagoya University.  The students are enrolled in the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences (GSBS); and the Graduate School of International Development (GSID).

    
Prof. Akira Yamauchi                                              Dean Jose V. Camacho, Jr.

Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr., Dean of UPLB Graduate School and Project Leader of the UP-NU joint scholarship for PhD, presented the background of the joint project with NU.  He said that in December 2017, the UP System and NU signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the Joint Scholarship for PhD to enable the faculty members, researchers and professional staff of the UP System to pursue doctoral studies under NU’s transnational doctoral program.  Under the agreement, NU and UP jointly contribute financial resources for up to two scholarships per year for a duration of five years from 2017 to 2022. The students will study in either GSBS or GSID.

In acknowledging the NU partners, Prof. Isoda highlighted the contributions of the following partners in the Transnational Doctoral Programs as follows:
the UP System through UPLB, for graciously allowing our satellite campus to settle at the UPLB Graduate School building, and to the different Colleges for allowing professors to serve as local supervisors of NU students and to do research in their laboratories; SEARCA for the strong partnership spanning three decades of collaborative work through academic exchange and joint scholarships, to IRRI for expert assistance and the use of their excellent facilities for rice research; to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice); the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), and the Environmental Research and Development Bureau for supporting the studies of their staff who are currently NU students.

In closing, Prof. Kazuhito Kawakita, Dean of the NU GSBS, thanked the support of everyone to ensure the success of the annual entrance ceremony.  He reiterated the long-standing relationship of NU with SEARCA, UPLB and IRRI and hoped that the ties remain stronger as NU explores more collaborations with other agencies.  He said that NU is encouraged even more to bring the collaboration to a higher ground to fulfill the research and academic mandates of the university.


Dr. Kazuhito Kawakita

Officers of the NU Alumni-Philippine Branch and guests from international, regional, and national agencies such as IRRI, SEARCA, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, the Philippine Carabao Center and  PhilRice both under the Philippine Department of Agriculture; Environmental Research and Development Bureau, PCAARRD, and officials of UPLB led by Chancellor Sanchez, Vice Chancellors and Deans attended the ceremony.



The NUASC-Philippines is one of the six satellite campuses of NU established in Asia to implement the PhD by Research program.  Through this program, highly qualified senior and mid-level Filipino executives of Philippine government agencies, including academic and research personnel of the UP System through the NU-UP joint scholarship project, can pursue their doctorate degrees at NU without having to spend three years of full-time study in Nagoya, Japan. The degree is granted by Nagoya University.  Other satellite campuses of NU have been established in Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Laos. The focus areas of the doctoral programs are Education, Law, Medicine, Agriculture, International Development and Environment. Details about NUASCI are available at www.asci.nagoya-u.ac.jp. (contributed by e.cedicol)