Professor Emeritus Emmanuel de Dios, Oscar M. Lopez Sterling Professor of Law and Economics, UP School of Economics, discusses the purpose of the UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
University of the Philippines officials — chancellors, deans, institute directors, and department chairs of units offering doctoral degree programs — gathered on September 23 to 24 in UP Diliman for the “UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit.”
The event aims to enhance the University’s PhD programs and cultivate an enabling environment for mentorship across the UP System.
It featured plenary presentations and discussions held at the GT Toyota Asian Center Auditorium, small group consultations, and a tour of selected UPD laboratories and studios located at the UP School of Economics, the UP College of Science National Institute of Physics, the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Department of Psychology, and the UP College of Arts and Letters Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts where program heads and PhD students shared their best practices and strategies with the summit participants.
Professor Emeritus Emmanuel de Dios opened the summit by presenting the rationale and background of the event. He said the activities are being done as part of the University’s efforts to assess the state of UP’s PhD programs and explore strategies to enhance mentorship environments.
UP President Angelo Jimenez challenges the summit participants to “build a political constituency for science” during the opening of the UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
UP President Angelo Jimenez welcomed the participants by providing the social context vis-à-vis the need to promote science and make it understandable to both the public and the nation’s policymakers. He said the nation is again facing a “political storm, a moral storm” that “hits our values”.
“Let us build a political constituency for science,” Jimenez said, by “making science serve the people.”
Professor Emeritus Caesar Saloma, Chair of the UP Task Force for the UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit, presented their findings on the current state of UP PhD programs and drafted recommendations. “Let us be optimistic,” he said about the recommendations being made and the outcomes of the summit.
Saloma also facilitated panel discussions, with Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (Research) Percival Almoro, Professor Emeritus Benito Pacheco, and Professor Emeritus Ma. Cecilia Conaco, on the sub-topics, “Capacity Building for PhD Mentorship, Collaboration, and Public Service” and “Revisiting Policies to Promote PhD Student Mentorship”.
(Top) Professor Emeritus Caesar Saloma, Chair of the UP Task Force for the UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit, presents their findings on the current state of UP PhD programs and drafted recommendations.
(Bottom) Participants of the UP Graduate Mentorship and Research Summit convene at the GT Toyota Asian Center Auditorium on Sept. 23–24 in UP Diliman to discuss strategic policies and programs to strengthen UP’s role as the country’s leading graduate and research university.
Photos by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
Important questions were raised as points for reflection and assessment during the workshops and discussions, such as: “Is the University on track to fulfill its purpose as a leading graduate, research, and public service university?” and “How can UP strengthen policies to enhance PhD student mentorship, foster inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration, raise graduation rates, and broaden the impact of innovation-driven public service?”
UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II, UP Los Baños Chancellor Jose Camacho Jr., UP Manila Chancellor Michael Tee, UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano, UP Open University Chancellor Joane Serrano, UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao, UP Baguio Chancellor Joel Addawe, and UP Tacloban College Dean Patricia Arinto shared insights during the panel discussions.
In his closing remarks, UP Executive Vice President Leo Cubillan thanked summit participants for giving their feedback and recommendations. “You show renewed commitment and a strong desire to move forward together,” he said, while assuring support from the UP System administration. He emphasized, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.
Organized by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the summit’s theme was “Strengthening UP’s Leadership as the Country’s Premier Graduate, Research, and Public Service University: Policies, Programs, and Pathways Forward.”
