Local and foreign experts from different fields of the earth sciences gathered to discuss new findings and innovations in an international symposium convened by the Rushurgent-Working Group (RWG) of the University of the Philippines (UP) National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS). The symposium, titled Crust-mantle Evolution in Active Arcs, was held last February 12 and 13, 2015 at Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City. The first day highlighted new knowledge and scientific data on tectonics, igneous and sedimentary geochemistry, paleontology and geophysics, while the second day dealt with new data that has uses in industry and in geohazard assessment. The tone of the […]
Behavior of mice shows importance of individual training in group emergency escape
Knowledge of how groups escape in emergency situations is crucial to human safety but how can experiments on crowd emergency evacuation be performed under genuine settings? The solution, as conceived by a group of researchers from the University of the Philippines Diliman, is to study the behavior of mice under duress. According to Drs. Caesar Saloma, Gay Jane Perez, Catherine Ann Gavile, Jacqueline Judith Ick-Joson and Cynthia Palmes-Saloma, experimenting with mice avoids serious ethical and legal issues that arise when dealing with unwitting human participants while minimizing concerns regarding the reliability of results obtained from simulated experiments using actors. Mice were […]
Filipino scientists discover new plant species with great phytoremediation potential
A new hypernickelophore species of Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae) was discovered by the team of Marilyn Quimado, Edwino Fernando, Lorele Trinidad and Augustine Doronila during their botanical exploration of ultramafic sites in Luzon and Mindanao. Phyllanthus erythrotrichus was located in Sta. Cruz, Zambales while Phyllanthus securinegoides, previously only analyzed through herbarium specimens, was found thriving in Taganito, Surigao del Norte. Both were compared to a known hypernickelophore, Phyllanthus balgooyi, collected by the group earlier in the cities of Narra and Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Phyllanthus erythrotrichus and P. securinegoides have more than 10,000 µg g-1 nickel in the leaves and 1,195 µg g-1 […]
UP Manila associate professor wins historic first Gawad Pangulo competition
Dr. Iris Thiele Isip-Tan of the Medical Informatics Unit in UP Manila bested three other UP faculty members in the final round of Gawad Pangulo: A Competition for Progressive Teaching and Learning held last 13 February 2015. Specializing in internal medicine-endocrinology, Dr. Isip Tan teaches the graduate introductory course on health informatics (HI 201) to doctors, nurses and pharmacists. “I want to see [my students] learning. I want to make learning visible,” she says. To do this, Dr. Isip Tan requires her students to create their own e-portfolios and personal learning networks on varied social media platforms, and takes advantage […]
Call for Nominations: Concepcion D. Dadufalza Award for Distinguished Achievement
The Office is once again accepting nominations for the Concepcion Dadufalza Award for Distinguished Achievement until 31 July 2016. The award aims to honor individuals of distinction, to keep alive the selfless vision and values of Professor Dadufalza. The award is open to anyone who has been affiliated with UP — student, alumnus/alumna, faculty member, researcher — who meets the criteria of the award (Download the Guidelines). The awardee will be announced in September 2016. Since its establishment in 2000, the award has been conferred on 14 scholars of the University. The last recipient was Dr. Perry S. Ong of the UP […]
Call for applications: Scientific Career System 2015
All non-faculty researchers are invited to apply to the Scientific Career System CY 2015 of the Department of Science and Technology and the Civil Service Commission. Under the program, productive researchers of the Research, Extension and Professional Staff (REPS) in UP are given the opportunity to be promoted up to a salary grade 30, the equivalent of a full professor rank. Evaluation will be based on accomplishments made between January 2005 to December 2014. Nominations with complete documentation (7 hard copies plus one copy on CD) will be accepted until 2 March 2015. Download the files: OVPAA Memo 2015-06 SCS Form 1 (Application form) Criteria for application […]
