Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC)

Tokyo University of Agriculture Education Corporation President Receives Royal Thai Decoration

Tokyo, Japan--- Dr. Toshiro Matsuda, President of the Tokyo University of Agriculture Educational Corporation received the Royal Thai Decoration on 12 November 2009 at Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan. The Royal Thai Decoration was granted to Dr. Matsuda in honor and recognition of his contribution to the advancement of agricultural research and development in Thailand up to the present.

Dr. Matsuda led many projects under the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) as agricultural economist and President of TUA. The TUA was the core university for JSPS program in agricultural sciences. In his speech, Dr. Matsuda acknowledged the Decoration and informed the audience that he spent a lot of time in Thai rural villages to conduct agricultural research projects directed towards improving the welfare of small farmers. The JSPS projects that TUA conducted in Thailand were in cooperation with professors from Thai universities, including Kasetsart University (KU). The KU officially recommended Dr. Matsuda for the Decoration, which was presented to him by Dr. Sornprach Thanisanwanyankura, KU’s Vice President for International Affairs.

Officials of the Executive Board of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources witnessed the awarding ceremony. Kasetsart University is one of the founding members of the University Consortium(Written by E. C. Cedicol with inputs from Dr. Akimi Fujimoto).

 

University Consortium Executive Board Meets; Approves New Collaborative Projects in 2010

Tokyo, Japan--The Executive Board of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) held its 22nd meeting at the Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) in Tokyo, Japan on 12-13 November 2009.

During the meeting, the following new collaborative projects were approved for implementation starting 2010: 1) The Dissertation Doctorate Program Scholarships for the University Consortium, two slots of which will be jointly funded by the TUA and the University Consortium, and one slot to be jointly funded by the TUA and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA); and 2) Research-based internship program of four University of British Columbia (UBC) students taking up the Master of Food Science and the Master of Food Resource Economics to be hosted in any of the University Consortium members.

Aside from the new projects, the UC Executive Board also approved the management and financial reports of the UC Secretariat; and the planned activities for 2010 as follows: 1) hiring of contractual UC Secretariat staff on an output basis to assist in coordination of UC activities and in developing project proposals for the UC; 2) student and faculty exchanges; 3) thesis grants; 4) production of a new UC brochure and poster; 5) information dissemination activities; and the 5) conduct of the 23rd UC Executive Board Meeting. The Board also discussed the possibility to develop an international masters course to be offered by UC members.

The awarding of the Royal Thai Decoration to TUA Educational Corporation President, Dr. Toshiro Matsuda, coincided with the UC meeting in TUA on 12 November 2009. The Decoration was granted to Dr. Matsuda in honor and recognition of Dr. Matsuda's contribution to the advancement of agricultural research and development in Thailand up to the present. All participants of the UC Executive Board meeting and faculty and staff of TUA witnessed the awarding ceremony.

The University of the Philippines Los Baños will be the host of the 23rd UC meeting tentatively scheduled on the second week of November 2010.

Participants of the meeting were Dr. Herry Suhardiyanto, Rector; Dr. Khairil Anwar Notodiputro, Dean of Graduate School, Dr. Rinekso Soekmadi, Director, Directorate of Collaboration and International Programs, all from Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia; Dr. Triwibowo Yuwono, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture; Dr. Arman Wijonarko, Vice Dean of Collaboration and Student Affairs, Faculty of Agriculture; and Dr. Masyhuri, Director, Center for World Trade Studies, all from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia; Dr. Nik Mustapha Raja Abdullah, Vice Chancellor, and Dr. Hasanah Mohd. Ghazali, Dean, School of Graduate Studies, both from Universiti Putra Malaysia; Dr. Sornprach Thanisawanyankura, Vice President for International Affairs, Dr. Somsakdi Tabtimthong, Director, International Affairs Division, and Dr. Norongchai Pipattawanong, Director of Agro-Ecological System Research and Development Institute, all from Kasetsart University, Thailand; Dr. Oscar B. Zamora, Dean of Graduate School, and Dr. Cristeta N. Cuaresma, Secretary of Graduate School, both from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines; Dr. Mahesh Upadhyaya, Associate Dean, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Graduate Studies,University of British Columbia, Canada; Dr. Richard Williams, Professor and Coordinator, Faculty International Programs, Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Australia; Dr. Ohsawa Kanju, President, Dr. Akimi Fujimoto, Director of International Programs, and Dr. Mariko Uehara, Deputy Director of International Programs, all from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan; Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., Director; and Dr. Editha C. Cedicol, Manager of Graduate Scholarship Department, both from the SEAMEO SEARCA.

The UC was established in September 1989 at SEARCA, College, Laguna, Philippines. Its founding members are Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia; Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM); Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand; and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Its associate members are University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada; University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia; the Georg-August University of Goettingen (GAUG) in Germany, and Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) in Japan. SEARCA initiated the establishment of the UC and is the seat of the UC Secretariat. (Contributed by E.C.Cedicol)

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SEARCA Calls for Graduate Scholarship Applications for SY 2011/2012

SEARCA invites applications for its graduate scholarship (MS and PhD) in agriculture and related fields (including biological sciences, social sciences, economics and statistics, forestry and fisheries, environmental sciences, agro-industrial technology and engineering, biochemistry, and development management) for School Year 2011-2012.

The scholarship is open to nationals of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam who are regular employees of academic or research institutions or government agencies and not older than 35 years old.

Applicants may submit their applications to their countries’ respective Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Environment and Natural Resources, or Rural Development. The Ministries will then screen and endorse their applications and submit the list of qualified applicants accompanied by the complete set of requirements to SEARCA not later than 30 July 2010. Applicants should inquire with their respective Ministries regarding the Ministries’ deadline for receiving SEARCA applications.

SEARCA scholars may study at any of the following members of the University Consortium coordinated by SEARCA: Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia; Kasetsart University, Thailand; Institut Pertanian Bogor and Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia; and University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, Philippines. Other reputable universities outside the University Consortium but within the Southeast Asian region may also serve as study posts of scholars under special arrangements and project agreements.

Applicants may apply online via the SEARCA website, but original application documents must still be sent to their Ministry for official endorsement and submission to SEARCA. Applicants are required to submit to SEARCA applications for admission to three universities in the list.

The application requirements and forms may study may be downloaded from the SEARCA website at http://www.searca.org.

The topic of the research that the applicants plan to conduct for their thesis must be in line with either of the priority thrusts of SEARCA, namely: natural resource management and agricultural competitiveness.

Interested parties may contact the Graduate Scholarship Department of SEARCA via email at ecc_at_agri.searca.org or gsd_at_agri.searca.org.

UBC to Send Interns to Other UC Members

Students pursuing the Master of Food Science (MFS) and the Master of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada now have the opportunity to carry out their internship at other universities in the University Consortium. The internship is mandatory to said graduate programs.

Annually, UBC may provide scholarships to four professional master’s students to enable them to undertake research-based internship at any university that is a member of the University Consortium (UC). This could involve up to four UC member universities or less, if more than one student chooses to undertake the internship at the same university.

UBC will support MFS or MFRE students to undertake their internship under the Consortium arrangement to give them the opportunity to access the relative strengths of other UC member universities such as different expertise, laboratory facilities and equipment, and data set, which are not available at UBC. It also provides the students exposure to different cultures and experience living overseas.

A faculty supervisor will be provided by the host university to each UBC intern for the duration of the internship. The supervisor’s expertise is either in food science or agricultural/food/resource economics, depending on the degree program of the UBC intern. The UBC students are expected to finance their internship projects.

Depending on the UBC intern’s project, the period of internship will be three months or less, from early May until mid-August. (Source: UC Consortium Report of the University of British Columbia)

TUA, UC Jointly Offer Dissertation Doctorate Scholarships

Scholarships for Dissertation Doctoral Degree at Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA), Japan are jointly offered by TUA and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) for School Year 2010/2011.
Two scholarship slots are available for a three-year Dissertation Doctorate Program for Agriculture and Natural Resources. With the end view of contributing to the enhancement of agricultural research and development in Southeast Asia, the TUA-UC scholarship is open only to all UC member universities.

To be eligible to apply for the scholarship, applicants must:

  1. Be a researcher with fulltime employment at the university or research institution;
  2. Be a holder of a master’s degree in agriculture or related fields;
  3. Have produced at least two peer-reviewed scientific papers in scholarly journals at home or abroad and has served first author of at least one of those papers;
  4. Have already made a substantial progress in a research project which will deserve a doctorate degree in three years; and
  5. Be not more than 50 years of age at the start of the program.

Applicants must submit the accomplished application form, most recent curriculum vitae, dissertation proposal, list of publications, and letter of agreement from the home institution to the UC Secretariat at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on or before 15 February 2010. Inquiries may be addressed to the UC Secretariat at ecc_at_agri.searca.org or gsd_at_agri.searca.org.(LLDDomingo)

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