Mr. Artemio A. Martin, Jr., who is pursuing his Straight PhD in Soil Science at the University of the Philippines Los Baņos (UPLB) under SEARCA scholarship, has been awarded a travel grant to University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada as exchange student under the University Consortium Student Exchange Program effective 1 January-30 April 2009.

Launched in 1989 by SEARCA, the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education and Natural Resources, or the University Consortium for short, is a commitment made among leading Southeast Asian higher education institutions to share academic expertise and resources. It links nine top agricultural universities in Southeast Asia, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Japan, including UPLB and UBC, to facilitate free exchange of information, facilities, and expertise. As such, the Consortium is one avenue by which SEARCA and the member universities pursue agricultural human resource development in Southeast Asia.

Student exchange is one of the components of the University Consortium. Its other components are faculty exchange, thesis grants, professorial chair, and research fellowship.

Mr. Martin’s student exchange grant is supported by the UBC Go Global Scholarship and the University Consortium Pool of Funds.

During his one semester stay at UBC, Mr. Martin has enrolled three graduate courses offered at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

Mr. Martin is Instructor 1 at Isabela State University in the Philippines.