NU opens Philippine satellite campus; admits first Filipino scholar to the Transnational PhD Program

Manila, Philippines--- The Nagoya University (NU) in 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.

 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.

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 in the Transnational PhD program. Mr. De Castro will pursue the PhD in Bioagricultural Sciences with major discipline 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 co-supervisor from UPLB.

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 by Research program called NU Transnational PhD 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 The focus areas of the PhD program are Agriculture, International Development, Law, and Medicine. Other satellite campuses of NU have been established in Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Laos. Possibilities are being explored to establish satellite campuses in Indonesia and Myanmar.

 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.

Other Filipino candidates will be awarded during the October semester of 2016.
The satellite campus in the Philippines is based at UPLB Graduate School. Dr. Jose V. Camacho, Jr currently serves as the Graduate School dean, while Dr. Editha C. Cedicol, serves as the director of the NU Asian Satellite Campus-Philippines. (Contributed by NUASC-Phil -E. C. Cedicol)