Prof. Fumio Isoda,
Director of the NU Asian Satellite Campuses Institute in Japan and the
satellite campuses in Laos and 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 SEARCA 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.
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 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.”
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).
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. 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.
