University of the Philippines President Angelo Jimenez has proposed shifting Korea-ASEAN university partnerships beyond student exchanges toward joint research, faculty mobility and technology sharing aimed at solving problems in the region.

Jimenez said universities should build arrangements that allow students and researchers to work across borders while ensuring that research and technology development also take place in countries where the problems being studied are found.

“I would like to see greater mobility, intra-ASEAN mobility and interregional mobility of students,” Jimenez said.

He also proposed a common quality-assurance framework among universities to facilitate the transfer of academic credits, as well as greater faculty mobility to allow institutions to learn from one another’s systems and expertise.

But Jimenez placed particular emphasis on joint research. He cited PhD-by-research programs as one possible model, allowing graduate students to divide their studies between universities in the Philippines and partner institutions abroad.

“We can talk about whether they spend two years in the Philippines or one year there, two plus two, two plus one. There’s so many formula,” Jimenez said.

Such arrangements could allow students to spend portions of their graduate programs in each country, depending on agreements between participating universities.

Jimenez said these partnerships should also strengthen research capacity within the Philippines and other ASEAN countries, rather than simply facilitate the movement of students.

“But the most important thing is that some of the research we would like it to be done in our country,” Jimenez said.

The proposal comes as ASEAN and South Korea continue to expand cooperation in education, science and technology and other areas under their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

ASEAN and South Korea adopted a 2026-2030 Plan of Action covering cooperation in political-security, economic and socio-cultural areas, including education, science and technology and digital transformation.

Jimenez said UP was pursuing a similar research-driven approach, requiring researchers to identify the social problem their projects seek to address before they are approved. 

“Bago namin i-a-approve ’yan kasi tanungin muna namin, anong social problem ang sino-solve ng research mo?” he said.

He called this “client discovery,” saying research should start with an identified need rather than develop a product or technology first and look for users afterward.

He said South Korea’s advanced science and technology programs could provide opportunities for Philippine universities to access higher-level learning and technical expertise, making research and technology cooperation a potential area for deeper Korea-ASEAN academic partnerships.###