Launched in November 2005, the SEARCA PhD Research Scholarship provides financial support to a limited number of qualified PhD students whose researches are relevant to the priority thrusts of SEARCA. Scholars are required to spend two months at SEARCA, located in the Philippines, and present a seminar related to the research. Scholarship support is up to a maximum of US$8,400 per awardee. Deadlines for application are 1 April 2008 and 1 September 2008.

This scholarship program aims to:

1. Provide PhD students the opportunity to use the resources and facilities available at SEARCA and its network of universities for their research;
2. Produce quality research papers for publication; and
3. Enable them to work with SEARCA’s R&D personnel on mutually identified areas of concerns/interests in agriculture and rural development.

Eligibility for the Grant

Any graduate student who is a citizen of any SEAMEO member country and pursuing a PhD in agriculture or related sciences from any university in the world is eligible to apply for the scholarship.

The applicant must have already completed his/her course work with an approved dissertation proposal and is ready to conduct the dissertation research.
The applicant’s research must focus on any of SEARCA’s priority thrusts under the broad themes of natural resource management and promotion of agricultural competitiveness.

Application Requirements

The application requirements are:

1. Filled out Application Form (see below);
2. Letter of application for the research scholarship;
3. Recommendation letter from the Dean of Graduate School of the university where the student is pursuing his/her degree program;
4. Dissertation research outline/proposal approved by the Advisory Committee and Dean of Graduate School;
5. Budgetary requirement for the entire research duly attested and recommended by the major adviser and Dean of Graduate School;
6. Certified transcript of academic records for all courses taken at the PhD level;
7. Curriculum vitae;
8. Letter from the student certifying that he/she is not receiving any other research grant from any other institution. If partial funding has been obtained from other sources, a certification from the funding agency indicating the amount of grant and the items in the research that are covered by the grant; and
9. Research timetable indicating the activities involved in the research, the expected date of defense and expected date of seminar paper presentation.

Download Scholarship Application Form For inquiries, please email gsd@agri.searca.org. For more information visit the website

Application deadlines are 1 April 2008 and 1 September 2008.
Applications should be addressed to:

Dr. Editha C. Cedicol
Manager
Graduate Scholarship Department
SEARCA, Los Baños 4031 Laguna, Philippines