Three research managers from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) will take part in the John Dillon Fellowship (JDF) of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The fellowship will start on June 14, 2021.
The JDF 2021 is one of the flagship fellowship programs of ACIAR on leadership capacity building in agriculture research for development. It aims to develop the leadership and management skills of mid-career professionals, particularly scientists, researchers, and economists from ACIAR-partner countries who are working in agricultural research for development.
The three research managers from DOST-PCAARRD are Ms. Mia Barbara Aranas, Senior Science Research Specialist (SrSRS) of the Socio-Economics Research Division (SERD); Ms. Maria Teresa de Guzman SrSRS of the Agricultural Resources Management Research Division (ARMRD), and Dr. Ronilo de Castro, Science Research Specialist II of the Livestock Research Division (LRD).
This year’s JDF program will focus on core skills and learning modules such as values-based leadership; collaboration and communication; project management; and gender equity and social inclusion. Although the Philippines has established research organizations with capable researchers who are recognized as leaders and change agents in their field, DOST-PCAARRD and ACIAR both recognize the need to upskill the practice of leadership, especially in the current pandemic.
The identified research managers from DOST-PCAARRD will be joined by other Fellows from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), UP Mindanao (UPMin), and the Visayas State University (VSU). Members of the cohort are emerging leaders who have previous or ongoing association with ACIAR projects.
The John Dillon Fellows will be trained inleadership and management, including leadership in the time of crisis, partnership brokering, leadership communication, gender equity, diversity, and social inclusion.
The key features or sequential activities of JDF 2021 are:
1. Part-time distance/online training program for 12 weeks;
2. Collaborative project/s by a group of Fellows with funding from ACIAR in a span of 12 months; and
3. Two-week immersive workshop and study tour in Australia in late 2022.
The collaborative project/s will serve as a vehicle for Fellows to apply their skills and learnings from the program. The JDF program will be built around the needs of individual participants, where they actively define and analyze the environments they operate in and the problems that they encounter, and then develop methods of better managing and leading in their environments.
The leadership and management strategies that the Fellows will design in this program should be beneficial to their respective agencies. Most importantly, the JDF Program is an opportunity for a PCAARRD-ACIAR partnership model that is not research- or project-based. ACIAR has allocated AU$500,000 to support the Filipino fellows’ collaborative projects.