NEWS

The APU Research Office provides research support subsidies to graduate students every year. On May 9, 2018, the nine recipients of these grants (one PhD and eight master’s) gave presentations on the results of their completed research.

The session began with an introduction by the director of the Ritsumeikan Center for Asia Pacific Studies (RCAPS), Professor Joseph Progler, who drew a parallel between research and a journey, which are both characterized by their physical and intellectual components. Fieldwork represents the physical part of research, while analyzing and interpreting the data composes the intellectual part. The University is proud to have been able to support APU graduate students in their field work and research.

Mr. Dhino B. Geges, the PhD presenter, set a fine example of using the funding to help partially cover expenses for a month of fieldwork in the Philippines, during which he visited a typhoon affected municipality in Iloilo Province. This was a part of his research entitled “Mainstreaming Social Enterprise Towards Strengthening Community Resilience in the Philippines.”

Mr. Geges expressed his appreciation for the subsidy, saying “I had the opportunity to visit 11 island villages and interviewed representatives from an NGO who are currently working in the area. The stay enabled me not only to satisfy my doctoral research objective, but has also further strengthened the rapport with the parties I visited. I feel indebted to have been awarded this grant during my second semester, an early though crucial stage in my doctoral program, and am convinced that the findings and network gained during the fieldwork will in turn pave the way for my future research activities.”