Bogor, Indonesia – The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) together with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) organized the 5th University Consortium Graduate Forum (UCGF) on 01-02 October 2019.
Since 2015, the UC annually conducts a graduate forum to provide graduate students from UC member institutions an opportunity to share their knowledge, expertise, research, and experiences. This year’s 5th UCGF followed the theme “Sustainable and Smart Agriculture in the Tropical Region: Concept and Implementation”. It was also co-supported by the Food Security Center (FSC) of the University of Hohenheim in Germany.
A total of 47 research studies were presented under four subthemes during the parallel sessions attended by students from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kasetsart University, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Tokyo University of Agriculture, National Taiwan University, Brawijaya University, and IPB University. This event was also NTU’s first attendance in the UC Graduate Forum.
The 5th UCGF was the first for National Taiwan University to send delegates in a UC organized graduate forum. In photo: UPLB delegates Lawrence Yves Uy (center) and Gerald Salas (front-right) together with the NTU delegates: (L-R) Margo Sulistio, Hsu Hsiuyu, Yan Pui So, Hsien Hua Lai, and Hsing Weikang. Photo: Gerald Salas
Keynote speakers also imparted their expertise on the subthemes with Dr. Aimee Lynn A. Barrion-Dupo, Secretary of the Graduate School, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) discussing Production Systems, Prof. Yandra Arkeman from Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) University talking about Logistic and Supply Chain, Prof. Dr. Datuk M Nasir Shamsudin from the Department of Agribusiness and Bioresource Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) sharing on Sustainable Agribusiness, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siree Chaiseri, Vice President for Research and former Dean of the Faculty of Agro-Industry from Kasetsart University (KU) discussing Agroindustry 4.0
(L-R) Dr. Dupo, Prof. Dr. Shamsudin, and Prof. Dr. Chaiseri served as Resource Speakers for the Parallel Sessions on Production Systems, Sustainable Agribusiness, and Agroindustry 4.0. Photo: IPB
Following the parallel sessions, the students also held a meeting to establish the Asian Student Graduate Forum Association to strengthen the network of graduate students initiated during the UCGF.
The 5th UC Graduate Forum paved the establishment of the Asian Graduate Students Association to strengthen the network of graduate students who met during the graduate forum. Photo: IPB
Other universities who have hosted the UCGF since 2015 are Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Selangor, Malaysia, Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand and Universitas Brawijaya (UB) in Malang, Indonesia. For more information about UC organized events, scholarships, programs, and projects, visit https://uc.searca.org. (Paula Grace M. Muyco)