Swine nutrition specialist Ronilo de Castro of the Livestock Research Division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) was selected as the first Filipino doctorate scholar of the Nagoya University Asian Satellite Campus (NUASC) for its Transnational PhD Program. De Castro’s selection in the program was announced during the opening and entrance ceremony held recently at Acacia Hotel, Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
De Castro will pursue his PhD in Bioagricultural Sciences with major discipline in Animal Science at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Graduate School, the host of the NUASC-Philippines for the program areas in Agriculture and International Development.
The main mandate of the satellite campus is to implement special research-based doctoral programs focusing on international development, agriculture, law, and medicine. The program primarily targets highly qualified senior and mid-level Filipino executives from government agencies and academic institutions to earn doctorate degree from Nagoya University without leaving the country. The program generally hopes to strengthen education and research collaboration through continuous exchanges of students and researchers among different Asian regions. Other satellite campuses were also established in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Mongolia in 2014 and in Laos and Uzbekistan in 2015.
Officials from the two collaborating universities, led by Nagoya University President Dr. Seiichi Matsuo and UPLB System President Alfredo Pascual, attended the event. Heads and representatives from different R&D and academic institutions and international research agencies in the two countries also attended the event.
