THE NATIONAL Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) has called on scholars to join its initiatives designed to “build a pipeline” of young Filipino researchers who could eventually become mentors.
During the council’s forum at UST, the head of the NRCP introduced several capability-building programs aimed at providing financial support and guidance for local research in different fields.
“The future of research in the Philippines, the future of research in the NRCP, lies in the minds of our young researchers, so we would like to give them our own support,” NRCP president Ma. Louise Antonette De Las Peñas said on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Among the NRCP’s initiatives is the Young Scientists Research Grant, which provides mentorship and funding for the ongoing studies of students and early-career researchers.
“We are implementing this particular mentorship program, again, aiming to build a pipeline of young researchers throughout the Philippines under the [NRCP’s] 13 divisions. So we would like to provide financial assistance in the carrying out of the research,” De Las Peñas said.
Available grants, which cover maintenance and operating expenses, range from P150,000 to P500,000 per application.
Mentors must be NRCP members with a track record in research and no pending projects with the council, while their mentees should be Filipino, 40 years old or younger and have an approved thesis/dissertation or research proposal but limited prior funding.
“So this is really a program that hopefully will support the journey of a young scientist, either an NRCP mentor or a non-NRPC member. And hopefully by developing this young humanities researcher, he could also join the roster of NRCP mentors and be a mentor themselves in the future,” De Las Peñas said.
According to the program’s timeline, the application period was from Aug. 6 to 31, followed by the evaluation and approval stages in September. The processing of grants will last until Nov. 30, while the actual implementation of research activities is set for the following year.
Other research programs under the NRCP include CareeR or the Capacity Development Early Career Research Mentoring Program, which incentivizes mentors to assist early-career researchers in manuscript writing with the goal of publication.
The NRCP Outreach Program is geared toward informing beneficiaries of the council’s projects and research outputs, while the RDLead Program engages experts to strengthen research capital in the country and its global competitiveness.
De Las Peñas also encouraged researchers who wish to be published to submit their work through the Research Choice Program for the NRCP’s review and feedback.
The forum, titled “Understanding the Humanities Research Landscape: Themes, Challenges, and Opportunities,” was organized by the NRCP Humanities Division and the Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) and was held at the Buenaventura G. Paredes, O.P. building.
Part of the NRCP’s “Capability Advancement through Scientific Capacity Development” (CASCaDe) project, the event featured officials and speakers from various institutions to tackle their respective fields of research expertise.
During her opening remarks, AB Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan highlighted the importance of keeping the humanities at the center of learning, despite a general preference for the applied sciences.
“In the world where more possibilities and opportunities are given in health and applied sciences, it is also important to bring us back to our core, to give emphasis on disciplines that help us understand who we are, what it means to be human, how it feels to relate with others, to discover our interconnectedness,” Turingan said.
The NRCP is an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology that promotes national research capabilities, established in 1933.
