Programs : Collaborative Research for Industry and Community : Collaborative Research
Collaborative
Research Program
Background
To further develop human resources as well as research and educational capabilities of the
Member Institutions and to provide solutions to common issues of the ASEAN region, the Collaborative Research (CR) Program, which is
designed primarily to support research supervision activities of advisors at Host Institutions (HIs) and co-advisors at Japanese
Supporting Universities (JSUs) and Member Institutions (MIs), will extend its scope to involve the five interdisciplinary areas
which are addressed as the common critical issues of ASEAN while retaining the existing nine fundamental engineering fields.
Therefore, not only the CR Program will strengthen research and educational capabilities of the MIs and enable the HIs to provide
graduate degree programs with the international standard and high quality thesis research, but also it will strive to contribute
more to the development of the ASEAN region by encouraging the collaborative research activities that address the region’s common
issues and have economic and social impacts on regional industry and community.
The CR Program will be facilitated and supplemented by other supporting programs, namely Japanese Professors
Dispatch Program, Short-Term Training/Research Program in Japan, and Short-Term Training/Research Program in ASEAN, which will
enhance communication and collaboration between advisors at HIs (principal investigators) and co-advisors (co-investigators) at
JSUs and MIs. Besides, involvement of government, industry, community, non-MIs, and other networks/regions will be promoted.
Regional Conference Program is also provided to give an opportunity for all collaborators to develop and discuss the research
collaboration as well as to publicize research results.
Objectives
1)
To create joint research activities among HIs, MIs, and JSUs.
2)
To implement joint research by assigning thesis research topics to AUN/SEED-Net students and conducting
“joint thesis research supervision” by HIs, MIs, JSUs.
3)
To ensure high quality thesis research of master’s and doctoral students.
4)
To ensure completion of the graduate degree within reasonable duration (two years for master’s degree and
three years for doctoral degree) through the involvement of Japanese professors.
5)
To closely link scholars as well as graduate
students among the Member Institutions.
6)
To promote research collaboration among HIs, MIs, and JSUs, with involvement of non-MIs, the industry, the
community, and other networks.
7)
To closely link scholars, alumni members, as well as local graduate students among MIs.
8)
To contribute to the development of the ASEAN region by addressing common critical problems or needs.
Features
of the Program
1)
The collaborative research to be supported by the Collaborative Research (CR) Program must be conducted by
AUN/SEED-Net master’s or doctoral students under the joint supervision of advisors at HIs (principal investigators), Japanese
co-advisors (co-investigators), and co-advisors (co-investigators) from MIs, preferably Sending Institutions (SIs) of the
students.
2)
It is expected that each HI sets up a few well-defined and focused collaborative research themes (or
research umbrellas), each of which is a sub-area of research defined by several key words leading to a collection of
interrelated and progressively conducted possible thesis research topics. The title of each research theme should remain
unchanged during the Project period, although annual proposals may update a few thesis topics during the year. The framework
of research themes and possible thesis topics under each research theme should be “master planned” by the HI in consent with
Japanese Field Coordinating University(s) by taking account of discussions with and suggestions by other MIs, particularly
SIs of students.
3)
The thesis research topics must be under the current nine host fields of the Project; however, they can be
related either to the fundamental (or basic engineering) fields or to the interdisciplinary areas addressing the common issues
of the ASEAN region.
4)
To promote more involvement with the regional industry and community, the CR should be implemented in any
of the two orientations: industry-oriented research with hi-end technology and community-oriented research with lower-end
technology/appropriate technology, whether the research is in fundamental fields or interdisciplinary areas.
Persons Involved in a CR Project
Compulsory
- Advisor or AUN/SEED-Net student at HI as principal investigator (who submits the CR project
proposal)
- Faculty staff of JSU as co-investigator
- Faculty staff of other MI, preferably SI as co-investigator
- AUN/SEED-Net student (who conducts thesis research under the CR project)
Not compulsory
- Co-advisor at HI as co-investigator
- AUN/SEED-Net alumni as co-researcher
- Local graduate student at HI as research assistant
- Governmental/industrial sector, community, non-MIs, other networks/regions, etc. as co-researcher or co-sponsor (not
financially supported by the AUN/SEED-Net Project)
Please note that a faculty staff can be principal investigator for maximum 4 AUN/SEED-Net
students in total.
Expectation
1)
CR themes and topics should be discussed thoroughly and selected with consensus among MIs and JSUs.
2)
CR projects are encouraged to have involvements of AUN/SEED-Net alumni, local graduate students, non-MIs, the government, the industry, the community, and other networks/regions if possible.
3)
CR projects are expected to challenge regional comparative study or innovative solutions for the common problems of the ASEAN region.
4)
Direction, progress and results of the CR projects are expected to be discussed and presented regularly at the AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conferences.
5)
Collection of research results should be published as a comprehensive book of each identified CR theme under the AUN/SEED-Net Project.
6)
Research results should be accepted for publication in proceedings and/or journals.
Annual Total Budget
The
annual total budget of Collaborative Research for each proposal
depends on the total number of master’s students and doctoral
sandwich students of AUN/SEED-Net under the proposal.
The annual budget for a master’s student of AUN/SEED-Net
is approximately USD3,800 and USD5,700 for a doctoral sandwich student, which consists of Honorarium
(advisor’s fee including all other personnel costs) and Research
Expenses (travel expenses, small equipment, reference books,
research materials, consumable items, etc.). Therefore, the total
annual budget for each proposal will be approximately the sum
of USD3,800 times the number of master’s students
of AUN/SEED-Net and USD5,700 times the number
of doctoral sandwich students of AUN/SEED-Net under the proposal.
Notes
- The 1st batch of Collaborative Research Program is basically for existing AUN/SEED-Net students enrolled at Host Instititions before April of that fiscal year.
- The 2nd batch of Collaborative Research Program is basically for new AUN/SEED-Net students enrolled after April of that fiscal year. The proportion of the budget allocation may be different from the 1st batch.
Application
Individual proposal for the funding
of Collaborative Research must be endorsed by Head of Department of
the Host Institutions and by Japanese co-investigator (a letter or
an e-mail message), in consultation with the Coordinator of Japanese Field Coordinating University. The entire
proposals of Collaborative Research should be submitted with a cover
letter signed by the Dean of the Host Institution or designated representative. The AUN/SEED-Net
Project will award research projects in consultation with the Coordinator
of Field Coordinating University after due evaluation.
Proposals should
be submitted to the AUN/SEED-Net Project within March for the 1st batch or September for the 2nd batch.
