Officials of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) recently visited Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to hand over scholarship grants for 2022-2023 and discuss proposals for 2024-2025.
SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said DAAD is a German institution in Europe and considered one of the largest funding organizations for international exchange, contributes to shaping the European Higher Education and Research Area worldwide.
One of SEARCA's steadfast partners in the provision of scholarship grants since 1975, DAAD's recent officials were Anna Katharina Rusche, Head of Section, Scholarship Programs Asia and the Pacific, and Natalie Bursinski, Section Officer for Asia ST34-Asia Pacific.
During their visit, Gregorio said the DAAD delegation met with SEARCA's Education and Collective Learning Department (ECLD) to discuss DAAD's call for proposals for the next intake of the In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Program for 2024-2025.
He noted that as of Academic Year 2022-2023, DAAD and SEARCA have awarded 19 Cambodians, 91 Indonesians, 10 Laotians, 14 Malaysians, 31 Myanmar nationals, 100 Filipinos, 82 Thais, 26 Timorese, and 45 Vietnamese.
The meeting with the DAAD delegation was joined by Dr. Maria Cristeta Cuaresma, Senior Program Head, ECLD; Dr. Nova Ramos, Head, ECLD-Training for Development Unit (T4DU); and Zacyl Jalotjot, Program Specialist, ECLD- Graduate Scholarships and Institutional Development Unit.
During the visit, a ceremonial handover of scholarship grants for AY 2022-2023 also took place to officially award the grants to DAAD scholars whose study post is at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
During the onsite ceremony, representatives of the nine scholars thanked DAAD and SEARCA for all the support provided for their scholars. They were Chue Htet Hnin, Master of Science in Agricultural Economics; and Phouthasone Khouangvichit, Ph.D. in Environmental Science.
SEARCA is headquartered on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna province.