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IN order
for research to thrive in the country, the government must
build the necessary conditions to ensure innovation will
be always on an up-tempo mode.
In his
keynote speech at the 75th annual meeting of the National
Research Council of the Philippines (NCRP), Sen. Edgardo
Angara said there is an urgent need to create incentives,
develop flexibility, build a competitive environment,
establish a network of scientists and put up linkages of
various disciplines to foster an environment conducive for
innovation.
He said
there is a need to increase the salaries of scientists to
relieve them the burden of financing scientific research
themselves, and, at the same time, provide them stable
income.
He pointed
out that the dearth of financial resources is a big
problem for scientists to pursue their research.
Meanwhile,
the NRCP also conferred the 2007 Research Achievement
Awards to 11 scientists for their outstanding work in
their respective fields. Each awardee received a plaque of
recognition and P20,000 cash incentive.
The
awardees are Dr. Ester Ogena (science and math education);
Noli Reyes (mathematics); Edward H.M. Wang (medicine);
Cynthia T. Hedreyda (molecular biology); Orville Bondoc
(agriculture); Raymond Girard Tan (engineering and
industrial research); Elizabeth R. Ventura (social
sciences); Arnel A. Salvador (physics); Gisela P.
Concepcion (chemical sciences); Florentino Hornedo
(humanities) and Bernardo M. Soriano Jr. (earth and space
sciences).
“As a
result, we have scientists, who, instead of spending their
time making discoveries in the laboratory or mentoring
young scientists, [they] spend most of their time in an
office writing grant applications. Or often, they scrounge
for other sources of income. This is not a very effective
use of their talent,” Angara said.
“Second,
[the government should] provide a physical anchor where
scientists can seriously pursue research. They must have
laboratories with electricity and running water; equipment
and supplies; and other support facilities, such as animal
supply, centers that can provide mice, snails or guinea
pigs for experimentation,”
Angara added.
Citing the
importance of science equipment in pursuing research, he
mentioned that Filipino scientists could not pursue higher
studies in genomics because they don’t have a DNA
microarray.
“In this
dynamic age of genomics where the most significant strides
have been made to this day, it is inconceivable that our
scientists have no access to a DNA microarray,” he said.
“Without
access to such tool, our scientists are practically
handicapped and would have a painfully slow and difficult
time investigating genetic material,” he added.
The DNA
microarray is a tool that allows the study of every gene
or thousands of genes in an organism.
Angara
said Filipino scientists must also be given flexibility to
pursue their research agenda and give them the confidence
by supporting their bold ideas.
In this
setting, he said, the scientist is given the free hand to
select or is required to choose problems for investigation
without having to explain the validity of the research to
the institution.
He also
said scientific institutions must be open to the fact that
some scientists pursue research and innovation on a
long-term basis without considering the immediate effect
on the bottom line of the “employer.”
Angara
said scientists around the country must engage in a
healthy competition in vying for grants from the various
funding institutions. He stressed this type of
peer-reviewed competition stimulates the intellectual
juices of the scientists.
Angara
encouraged the development of mechanisms to
boosts networking among scientists both within the
country, in the Asian region and other parts of the world.
The former
University of the
Philippines
president said Filipino scientists must also join in
national and international competitions in their field of
interests.
“Going a
step further, let our scientists engage in regional or
international research projects that have to be executed
partly in one of our institutions in this country. They
should be designed in such a way that these projects are
integrated with the national research agenda and
educational system,” he said.
He cited
the creation of the Philippine Research Education and
Government Information Network as one great step in
building a network among government, academic and research
institutions for research and development (R&D).
Angara, a
former secretary of Agriculture, noted the formation of a
research consortium among the six state universities and
colleges in the Cordillera Administrative Region is
another way of boosting networking in R&D.
“These
kinds of networks are not the norm, however. But we should
continue supporting such networks and collaborations and
encourage newer ones to be formed,” he said.
“In doing
so, we do not only serve the interests of research. We
also avoid the pitfalls of parochialism,” he added.
He said
building of linkages among different disciplines, academic
institutions as well as between industry and academe must
be pursued vigorously, because this creates greater
synergy in pursuing innovation.
He said
that functional linkages between the institutions played a
key role in accelerating innovation in developed
countries.
“The
scientists in the life sciences, math and computer
sciences, social sciences, engineering, environmental
sciences and physical sciences have to work together. And
the scientists will also have to work closely with
ethicists, medical doctors and lawyers, “he said. | 
