To stay on top of global trends and standards, UPLB has been actively mooring on its international partnerships. On November 18-26, Asst. Prof. Anna Firmalino, director of the UPLB Office of International Linkages, engaged with various academic and research institutions in Europe to further UPLB’s internationalization initiatives.

She spoke as a panelist at the Going Global Conference hosted by the British Council in Edinburgh, Scotland where she discussed UPLB’s experience in developing dual degree programs with its international partners, namely the University of Reading and the University of Liverpool in Britain and Curtin University in Australia. Afterwards, she met with the British Council Philippines and the University of Liverpool regarding the expansion of the TAPHEP (Transformative Academic Practice for Higher Education in the Philippines) Project, a CHED-funded project led by UPLB in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, UP Open University, and 18 other Philippine higher education institutions. She also met with the Universities UK International, a body of about a hundred UK-based higher education institutions, and later with British charity Advance HE.

A few weeks before the UK trip, UPLB had formally sealed its partnership with the University of Montpellier in France for a dual PhD program specializing in crop science, an agreement that the UPLB Institute of Crop Science helped come to fruition. UP’s joint academic venture with the Korea International Cooperation Agency has also led to the establishment of the Agricultural Genomics Research Center at UPLB, with a groundbreaking ceremony held on Dec. 6. With these on-going collaborations and more, UPLB is on a roll in building bridges across the sea with fellow academic organizations, prioritizing those with clear objectives that will lead to increased capacities for national development and tapping areas where both organizations have the most synergy.

“We do internationalization so that we can have an idea of whether we’re at par with global standards,” said Asst. Prof. Firmalino.

She laid out the University’s straightforward strategy to ensure the productivity of its partnerships: ensuring active partnerships, by having a clear timeline and objective; deepening the partnerships UPLB has; and being a hub for wider collaborations between UPLB’s international partners and other Philippine HEIs.

As a premier university, UPLB has the capacity to pursue international partnerships and share the gains with local HEIs, an endeavor that Asst. Prof. Firmalino considers part of the University’s public service.