Deadline nears for Monsanto scholarship

Monsanto Philippines Inc. (MPI) is reminding eligible Filipinos pursuing a doctorate degree and applying for the Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug International Scholarship Program (MBBISP) of the Feb. 1, 2013 deadline for filing their application. The program provides full funding for studies leading to a doctorate in wheat or rice plant breeding.

According to MPI corporate affairs head Chat Garrido-Ocampo, the company seeks to have more Philippine applicants for the scholarship with its generous student stipend, tuition and other applicable fees, health insurance, research fees and travel expenses, as well as funds for the collaborating institution and advising professor.

The MBBISP covers students from anywhere in the world seeking to complete their Ph.D. program at any university worldwide granting a degree in wheat or rice breeding. If the scholar is enrolled in a developing country university, part of his or her research must be completed in one of the following developed areas – Australia, Canada, the United States or Western Europe.

If the scholar is with an institution in any of the above-named developed areas, he or she must conduct at least one season of field work in a developing country. Working for the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Centers like the International Rice Research Institute, CIMMYT, ICARDA. CIAT of AfricaRice does not qualify as working in a Western country institution but in a developing/transition country institution.

Established in 2009, the MBBISP honors two of the world’s most pre-eminent rice and wheat breeders – Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Norman Borlaug – whose lifelong work laid the foundation for the remarkable increases in rice and wheat production continuing to help feed the world today.

The last Filipino who qualifi ed for the scholarship was Mariafe Calingacion in 2010. She pursued her Ph.D. in Plant Physiology at Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands under the supervision of Professor Harro Bouwmeester and Dr. Robert Hall. A Master’s Degree in Agricultural Chemistry graduate of the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, Calingacion worked on research to help plant breeders provide farmers with rice varieties that give higher yields that are rapidly adopted by consumers.