Researchers from the Philippines and Japan will collaborate to develop answers to water-related issues, such as the scarcity of drinkable water in remote places, according to a Department of Science and Technology (DOST) official.
For collaborative research projects that should be completed in three years or less, the JST has provided JPY24 million and the DOST has allocated PHP10 million for its researchers.
"There are many issues that our local and international experts would like to address. These include the lack of potable water in far-flung communities here and in Japan," DOST Undersecretary Leah Buendia said, as first reported by the Philippine News Agency.
Finding solutions
Water security and scarcity issues, modern desalination technology, sustainable resource management and optimization, and water resilience are a few of the ideas they would concentrate on.
According to Buendia, treating water via a membrane method is one of the local possibilities.
Moringa seed may be utilized as a coagulant in the preparation of seawater, according to a Japanese researcher. Because moringa seed is accessible locally, communities in the Philippines can easily use it.
According to Buendia, both nations will launch a call for proposals on June 17.
Joint initiative
Researchers from Japan and the Philippines can submit the joint initiative using their respective countries' Research and Development Management System (e-Rad) portals and the DOST Project Management Information System website.
Buendia stated that it is possible that more than one idea might be selected, depending on the submissions they receive.
JST and DOST will review the submissions before the cooperative research projects will begin in December.
The final product might be commercialized, or the information obtained could be given to legislators to help create policies.
