(UPD-IO, November 9)—The University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) is hosting a colloquium of ongoing interdisciplinary research as a part of the centennial celebration of the University of the Philippines. The event is on November 14, Wednesday, at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) Assembly Hall, UPD. The research studies are funded by the Open Grant and the PhD Incentive Award of the Office of the Chancellor through the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD).
The Open Grant supports high quality interdisciplinary collaborative research in line with the University’s thrust to promote a strong research and development culture. It is awarded to ground-breaking and innovative work with a broad national impact. The PhD Incentive Award assists new PhDs in starting their research work in UPD and getting published in reputable refereed journals.
All seven grantees from the first batch of the Open Grant and several grantees from the PhD Incentive Award are presenting their research findings.
OVCRD is also launching a roving exhibit of these studies. The exhibit is stationed at the College of Science Atrium from November 19 to 23, at the College of Engineering (Melchor Hall) Lobby from November 26 to 30, and at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (Palma Hall) Lobby from December 3 to 7.
The colloquium is open to all students, researchers and members of the media. For more information, please contact OVCRD at 927-2567, 436-8720 or email ovcrd@up.edu.ph. You may also visit their website at www.ovcrd.upd.edu.ph.
The following are the summaries of open grant topics and the project leaders:
Art Beyond Appearances – Physics Looks into Paintings: Preventive Conservation, Digital Archiving and Analysis
Dr. Maricor N. Soriano (Program Leader) and Dr. Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador
The project shall use techniques in physics to aid in the cataloging and conservation of oil canvas paintings from the late 19th century until the twentieth century period in Philippine art. It shall use non-destructive optical imaging techniques to quantitatively document the use of color and texture in paintings of Filipino artists and to detect and study surface defects and discoloration in canvases due to changes in temperature and relative humidity. The project shall measure and model the seasonal and daily changes of these environmental conditions in exhibit, storage and transit areas of paintings to come up with museum guidelines more suited to the Philippine setting.
Anatomy of Power Rates in the Philippines
Dr. Allan C. Nerves (Program Leader), Dr. Arthur S. Cayanan, Prof. Rowaldo D. del Mundo, Dr. Helena Agnes S. Valderrama, Prof. Gilba Joy R. Padilla
The study aims to provide an analysis of the cost structure of the electric power industry, and identify technical, financial, and regulatory factors that contribute to the cost of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. It will also prescribe a set of recommendations that identifies policy areas that necessitates reforms and the cost and benefit of undertaking these policy reforms as well as their impact on the cost of electricity in the medium-to-long term.
Community Empowerment: An Interdisciplinary Research on Alternative Model Towards Sustainable Tourism
Dr. Corazon P. Rodriguez (Program Leader), Prof. Mynette del Rosario-Aguilar, Dr. Verne C. dela Peña, Prof. Shirley V. Guevarra, Prof. Antonio B. Lazaro, Prof. Rene Luis S. Mata
This project aims to produce an inventory of cultural artifacts, value systems, worldviews and schemas in a specific situ. This inventory of cultural assets will be packaged into potential tourism products and services. A mini-feasibility study will be conducted to establish priorities among tourism products and services. Given the prioritized tourism products and services, the project team will identify interventions to enable a community to participate in tourism development. The interventions will focus on capability building among diverse stakeholders so that at a certain specified period of time, the community will be empowered to plan, implement and monitor tourism projects.
Development of Semiconductor Nanostructures as Optical Sensors to Quantify Anti-tumor Drug Efficacy in Animal Models
Dr. Cynthia P. Saloma (Program Leader) and Dr. Carlo Mar Y. Blanca
This project aims to develop novel imaging and labeling techniques to quantify the efficacy of candidate anti-tumor drugs delivered in-vivo to laboratory mice. The novelty of this work lies in the use of semiconductor nanostructures (nanocrystals and nanotubes) to selectively tag and track tumor cells as well as the drugs intended to target these tumor cells. These nanostructures offer a myriad of advantages over conventional fluorophores (a component of a molecule which causes it to emit light) among them: a) emission spectra are narrow allowing use of multiple probes without spectral overlap; b) broad excitation spectra so a single source can excite different nanocrystals emitting different wavelengths; c) less toxicity to living cells; d) resistance to photobleaching; and e) the emission spectra for labeled tumor cells is near-infrared which enables their imaging in the whole organism if implanted deep within the animal model.
The Digital Provide: Bridging Rural Communities Through Emerging, Disruptive and Sustaining Information Technologies and Social Infrastructure
Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano, Jr. (Program Leader), Dr. Manuel C. Ramos, Prof. Josephine C. Dionisio
Access to information and effective use of IT (information technology) can help people overcome significant economic and political factors that affect their productivity and quality of life. This study explores technology options that can be immediately harnessed and deployed or developed to provide a cost-effective and sustainable infrastructure that provides Internet connectivity and improve the quality of life or rural communities in general. This research includes an actual deployment of technical infrastructure for Internet connectivity in a rural area using off-the-shelf components and developing a wireless testbed set-up and tools at the University for investigating optimization and applications development. Moreover, the research will also pursue post-implementation technical and sociological assessment, including recommendations for replication, regulation (if any), sustainability and reconfigurability. These recommendations may be used toward crafting national policy that is relevant to rural connectivity.
Systems Approach to Teacher Mentoring and Urban Poor Student Achievement
Dr. Vivien M. Talisayon (Program Leader), Dr. Celinia E. Balonso, Dr. Ligaya S. de Guzman, Dr. Jeremias T. Leones, Prof. Lorenzo Q. Orillos, Dr. Marietta R. Otero, Dr. Leonila T. Reyes, Dr. Merle C. Tan, Dr. Leticia S. Tojos
A systems approach to teacher mentoring is used to introduce several interventions and analyze their relative contributions to urban poor student achievement, for application nationwide. The sample will consist of Grades 4 and 7 students in two schools of urban poor in Quezon City, preferably those that performed lowest in TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) in 2003. The subjects in focus are Science, Mathematics, English, Filipino, and Hekasi/Makabayan. The interventions, which include training sessions, teacher mentoring, supervision mentoring, teaching resources development, class size adjustment, student remediation and counseling, school and division management, and community mobilization, are designed to improve student achievement by at least 10% to reach an average achievement of 75%. Cost-effectiveness of each intervention will be analyzed. Multiple regression and path analysis will be used to determine relative direct and indirect contributions of interventions to student achievement.
Advancing Growth, Competitiveness and Innovation in Pampanga’s Trade and Industry: Pampanga Industry Studies from a Stakeholder Perspective
Dr. Julieta C. Mallari (Program Leader), Dr. Nenita M. Dayrit, Prof. Roberto E. Reyes, Dr. F. Florencia Charito I. Sebastian, Prof. Mary Delia G. Tomacruz, Prof. Virginia C. Yap
This study of Pampanga signature industries—namely meat processing, furniture and woodcraft making, sweets and delicacies, pottery, quarrying, and lantern making—will define the direction and goals of seven selected Pampanga industries, thoroughly assess their performance and provide workable solutions, and advocate for appropriate capital infusion into these industries. This study will use stakeholder analysis, innovation infrastructure, and regional competitive frameworks.
Development of Inter-Disciplinary Signal Processing for Pinoys (ISIP) Program: Filipino Vowels and Emotions (FIVE)
Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara (Program Leader), Dr. Galileo Zafra, Dr. Ramon Acoymo, Dr. Belen Calingacion, Prof. Prospero Naval, Prof. Franz de Leon, Prof. Christine Clarin
As Information Technology (IT) permeates our lives, analysis and processing of different types of data are being accomplished with the use of computer algorithms, hardware and software. In this program, we wish to concentrate on Filipino and Filipinos. Several key problems in the Filipino language, Filipino music and the thriving call centers in the Philippines can be solved using statistical and neural network models. Through inter-disciplinary collaboration under ISIP FIVE, we plan to undertake three projects in the first year, these are: Standardization of Filipino: Focus on the Vowels of English Loan Words; Relationships between Vowel Migration/Modification in Sung Filipino (Tagalog) Texts and Perceived Intelligibility from the Audience Perspective; and Development of Emotion Classification Algorithms for Call Center Speech Analysis.
Dr. Aileen S.P. Baviera (Program Head)
In this thematic assessment of Philippine external relations, the research team will employ reflective, critical, and participatory approaches to foreign policy studies, beyond what past studies have already accomplished. Most previous research and documentation of Philippine foreign relations have focused on chronological accounts of events, and have been state-centered, or focused on the role of individuals. This project intends to focus on specific themes and shall thereby go beyond chronologies, beyond the recording of Philippine reactions to externalities, and beyond the traditional focus on the role of the state and individual personalities.