Manila, Philippines---  Nagoya University (NU), Japan formally opened its Philippine satellite campus and admitted its first Filipino scholar to the NU Transnational Program for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries during the Opening and Entrance Ceremony held on 8 March 2016 at Acacia Hotel, Manila.  The ceremony was attended by more than a hundred guests and participants from international agencies based in the Philippines, national agencies and state universities and colleges of the Philippines and  Japan, and scholars from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 
     
  Mr. Hirohito Saigusa of NU International Planning Division (right photo) served as master of ceremony
 
The following officials graced the ceremony with their warm greetings and welcome messages:  NU President Seiichi Matsuo, University of the Philippines President Alfredo E. Pascual, Minister Hiroyuki Uchida of the Japanese Embassy based in Manila, Mr. Hideto Matsumoto of the Higher Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan; and Dr. Cristino M. Collado, President of the Nagoya University Alumni Association-Philippine Branch.
 
            
               NU President Seiichi Matsuo (left) and UP President Alfredo E. Pascual (right)
 
     
Left to right:  Minister Hiroyuki Uchida; Mr. Hideto Matsumoto, and Dr. Cristino M. Collado
 
Mr. Ronilo O. De Castro, Science Research Specialist II of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) of the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) was introduced at the ceremony as the first Filipino scholar to be admitted to the Transnational PhD program.  Mr. De Castro will pursue a PhD in Bioagricultural Sciences with a major  in Animal Science starting April semester 2016.  Mr. De Castro, a specialist in swine nutrition, will conduct his research at the UPLB Animal Science Laboratory with academic advisers and professors from NU and a co-supervisor from UPLB.
 
     
  Mr. Ronilo O. De Castro                                          NUASCI Director Fumio Isoda
 
Dr. Fumio Isoda, Director of the NU Asian Satellite Campuses Institute (ASCI) said that the Philippine satellite campus is the 6th satellite campus established by NU in Asia to implement the hybrid PhD  program called NU Transnational Doctoral Programs  for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries.  Through this program, highly qualified senior and mid-level Filipino executives of Philippine government agencies can pursue their doctorate degrees at NU without having to spend three years of full-time study in Nagoya, Japan.
During the ceremony, Dr. Sanae Ito, Dean of the NU Graduate School of International Development, and Dr. Kazuhito Kawakita, Dean of the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences presented a glimpse of the two focus areas of the satellite campus in the Philippines, namely:  Agriculture Sciences and International Development.
 
         
                        Dr. Sanae Ito (left photo) and Dr. Kazuhito Kawakita (right photo)
 
Other Filipino candidates will be awarded during the October semester of 2016.
 
The satellite campus in the Philippines is based at the UPLB Graduate School.  Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr currently serves as the Dean of Graduate School , while Dr. Editha C. Cedicol, serves as the Head  of the NU Asian Satellite Campus-Philippines.  (Contributed by NUASC-Phil -E. C. Cedicol)