Grad students in sciences increase

MANILA, Philippines –  The number of Filipinos taking up science graduate courses in the country went up by 52 percent last year, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reported yesterday.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo said most of the students take up master’s degrees in the basic and applied sciences under the DOST’s graduate scholarship program.

Montejo said the number of students in the DOST’s Advanced Science and Technology Human Resources Development Program, a unified and innovative human resource program aimed at accelerating the production of high-level human resources by awarding MS and PhD scholarship grants to eligible individuals, increased from 1,466 in 2009 to 2,230 in 2010.

The graduate students specialize in priority fields of study like Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources, Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Chemical Sciences, Earth, Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Fisheries and Marine Science, Information and Communication Technology, Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Pure and Applied Mathematics, Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pure and Applied Physics.

The Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) Program, the DOST’s graduate scholarship program for engineering, also increased to 635 from 386 students.

The ERDT program aims to develop a critical mass of MS and PhD engineering graduates and is jointly implemented with seven universities to better facilitate the production of future engineers needed for industrial growth.

Graduate scholars under the ERDT program take up post baccalaureate degrees in computer science, electronics engineering, agricultural engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, electronics and communications engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science and mining engineering, remote sensing/geo informatics, energy engineering, metallurgical engineering, water resources, and agrometeorology.

The DOST’s Science Education Institute officer-in-charge and deputy director Dr. Leticia Catris said that the agency’s graduate scholarship program is a manifestation of the government’s commitment to increase and enhance the competitiveness of the country’s human capital in research and development.

“The graduates from these programs will join the increasing and achieving cadre of engineering professionals that will carry out business incubation and acceleration efforts in the industry and the academe. They will bring in pioneering innovations that will help create a niche for the Philippines in the global economy. We are determined to sustain our support to intensively and massively build our S&T human resource,” she added.

Montejo said the country needs more researchers in science and technology to bankroll the development of breakthroughs that will propel the nation’s economy toward sustainable development.

“As we usher in the new decade, a formidable force of graduate scholars in science and technology from the ASTHRDP and the ERDT will beef up the country’s critical mass of innovators and bring the Philippines at par with its neighbors. We urge our S&T graduates to continue to dream big for the country and we are ready to be part of making that dream come true,” Montejo said.