In a country where appreciation on science is low, bigger efforts are needed by the government, media, academe and other organizations to promote the achievements of young people who have excelled in science and technology (S&T) to make it more appealing to their counterparts.
Dr. Richard Abendan, research and industry partnerships manager of RTI International, admitted it is quite a challenge to entice the youth who want to study easier courses, rather than pursue a career in S&T.
“Admittedly, there is always a challenge to tell science and technology is cool and sexy. Right now, many young people would rather be a basketball player or a showbiz personality because that’s where the fun is,” said Abendan, a graduate of Bachelor of Science (BS) in Chemistry at the Ateneo de Manila University who finished his doctorate degree in Chemistry in Georgetown University in the United States.
“We want also to encourage students to be technopreneurs through the science and technology road map. I think we are much aware that many businesses today, such as Facebook, Google, Tesla and What’s App, are based on science and technology,” he said at the recent Kapihan for Stride Program.
According to Abendan, one of the ways to address the problem is to promote S&T role models. One of them is Janella Mae Salamania, a scholar of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Science, Technology, Research, and Innovation for Development (Stride).
Salamania was the only Filipino selected among 995 students from 65 countries to join in the Millennium Youth Camp in 2010. A graduate of BS Applied Physics in University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, she finished her Masters of Engineering in Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University. “[Salamania] was an exception. She was able to finish her studies in a year instead of the usual two,” Abendan said.
In the same Kapihan, Dr. David Hall, Stride chief of party, said the goal of the program is to expose young and outstanding Filipinos and encourage them to share the new knowledge they have learned.
Stride is a five-year, P1.3-billion program that seeks to enhance applied research activity in Philippine universities and industry. The project aims to create a dynamic network of researchers in universities and private companies, who continuously innovate; entrepreneurs and investors, who turn discoveries into products and companies; and a government supportive of initiatives that enable these partnerships to flourish.
USAID-Philippines Mission Director Dr. Susan Brems said the partnership for growth began with strength analysis that was a very serious research study that identified what are the major impediments to growth in the Philippines.
“I said earlier that the Philippines was chosen because it has so many positive characteristics. And that’s true. But aside from those positive characteristics, what could be done to spur development even more? And aside from development at an absolute level, [there should be] inclusive development, broad-based sustainable development. I think we’re all aware that in the Philippines, there are some people who are not so well off as others,” Brems said.
“Richard and Larry [Dilag] serve as motivation to young Filipinos who want to pursue a career in science and technology. They studied abroad and came back to introduce innovation,” Hall said.
Dilag, the USAID-Stride deputy chief of party, RTI International, is a BS Biology graduate from UP Diliman, where he obtained a general weighted average of 1.03. He finished his doctorate degree in biochemistry from Yale University and bachelor of laws from Harvard University. “Since Filipinos are heavy users of social media, we should have been the ones introducing innovations in the social media. Furthermore, the Filipinos should introduce innovations in marine science because of the fact our country has big bodies of water,” Abendan said. “But you have to tell them that Facebook runs on a programming language,” Dilag said.
Hall added that Stride seeks to jumpstart inclusive growth in the country through S&T. He said this would also cover in improving the research climate in the country.
“But the outcome has to be improved inclusive economic growth. So, we don’t fund anything that does not have or lead into inclusive economic growth.
“Inclusive economic growth is a popular term at the moment. But to us, what it means is that it has the potential to impact everybody in the Philippines, not just those employed in Metro Manila, but also those in the farthest corners of the country,” Hall said.
With focus on S&T, Hall said Stride provides grants to seaweed research, fishing and other agriculture activities. Moreover, he added that the program collaborates with Philippine academic institutions to strengthen their research capabilities. With strong linkages in the industry groups, Hall said Stride could make industry and academe work together to produce relevant research.
On capacity development, Hall said Stride provides scholarships and grants to scientists so they can get their masters and doctorate degrees and trainings in the US.
Stride also helps Philippine universities and some government agencies to manage their research and business processes.
Hall said Stride has awarded 34 grants. He pointed out that the introduction of the grants was a shot in the arm because the country has been lagging behind in the global competitiveness race since 2012.
Stride is the largest education project of USAID in the Philippines today. As of February 2016, the program has awarded P144.8 million in research grants to 34 universities around the country to conduct science and technology innovation research. It has also awarded 31 scholarships to Filipinos to study in US universities.
To strengthen inclusivity in the country, Hall said they are promoting development initiative program in the cities in Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo and Palawan.
Hall said the plan is to boost the research capabilities of the cities covered by the program to spur growth in the countryside.
“For instance, we will teach Palawan to focus on increasing the production of abalone shellfish for the export market,” he said.
Western Philippine University, one of the Stride grantees, is engaged in research on how to increase the production of abalone.
He said Stride is involved in knowledge and technology transfer to make them on a par with their counterparts in the urban areas.
“We expect universities to carry on what they are currently doing after the five-year program ends,” he said. More importantly, Hall said Stride seeks to assist Filipino scientists in tackling the obstacles in research. “We know Filipino scientists alone face many battles and Stride is here to assure them they are alone in facing the challenges in introducing innovation,” Hall pointed out.
Meanwhile, David Thorne, innovations ambassador of the US government, said Washington decided to send a delegation to conduct high-level discussions on S&T with their Philippine counterparts. “We also hope to replicate the program in other parts of the world because we are much aware that technology is driven by the young users,” he said in a media interview on Thursday in Makati city. “We also want to emphasize to the government the important role of science and technology to pursue inclusive growth,” Thorne said.
Image credits: ROY DOMINGO