The OVCRD Report (May 2011-April 2014).2.10.14 | Page 18

UP Diliman

Paliwanagan sa UP Diliman: Fostering Discourse
and Collaboration among Researchers
and Creative Workers

With its mandate as a research university, the
University of the Philippines Diliman
(UP Diliman) has yet to maximize its intracampus exchange of research and creative work
information and experience. In response to
this challenge, the OVCRD launched in
January 2012 the bi-annual colloquium series
called Paliwanagan sa UP Diliman. According
to Vice-Chancellor Benito M. Pacheco, the
launch of Paliwanagan aims “to symbolize the
resumption of active dialogue among UP
Diliman’s authors, creators and inventors.”
The theme of the colloquium series,
“Paliwanagan,” takes off from the literal
meaning of the word “colloquium,” i.e., a
conversation or dialogue. Paliwanagan,
therefore, is envisioned as a platform for
dialogue among UP Diliman’s researchers and
creative workers, a dialogue that is to be
conducted in the spirit of exchange and
understanding.
Indeed, the Paliwanagan colloquia serve, in the
first instance, as a venue for researchers and
creative workers to find out what each one,
working in his/her particular area of
specialization, is doing—this is convergence of
the more fundamental kind. But Paliwanagan

also highlights the theme of convergence in
more substantive terms, i.e., the convergences
of sciences and humanities, of technology and
art, in the University’s search for answers and
solutions to pressing societal concerns. In all
five colloquia that were held, the presentations
demonstrated the diversity of research and
creative work programs in the campus, and at
the same time accentuated the
interconnectedness of the different disciplines.
The first Colloquium, held in January 2012,
featured 25 OVCRD-funded research and
creative works. Six of these initiatives were
completed or ongoing interdisciplinary
researches or creative works under the Open
Grants program, while 19 were new initiatives
under the Source of Solutions Grant (SOS)
program. In September 2012, 17 OVCRDfunded research and creative works were
presented. Several projects presented at these
two colloquia are prim