The new leadership and members of the Philippine Society of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Ronpaku Fellows should deal with the challenges of climate change using multidisciplinary approach to help society prepare for its implications, Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano P. Yumul Jr. said.

Dr. Yumul issued the challenge during the induction of the new JSPS set of officers and conferment of JSPS medal to Dr. Joel V. Mangahas who completed a doctoral degree under the Ronpaku program.
    “I think this is something where PRF should come in considering that you have different fields of specialty, and considering that climate change is a multi-disciplinary program. I think this is something that we can fund,” he said.
    PRF is an organization of former scholars of the Ronpaku program under the JSPS with about 70 members mostly scientists and professors based in DOST and academic institutions nationwide.
      Dr. Yumul, who is undersecretary for R&D promised to support a possible two-year program with P10 million funds. 
       Meanwhile, JSPS is an independent administrative institution established by a Japanese law for the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science in all fields of natural and social sciences and humanities. It runs the Joint Scientific Cooperation Program, and the Ronpaku PhD dissertation scholarship program.
    JSCP is an inter-institutional cooperative arrangement between JSPS and the former National Science Development Board, now DOST, in 1979 that aims to establish sustainable S&T collaborations between the Philippines and Japan under the principle of reciprocity.
    The Ronpaku program provides scholarship to promising Asian researchers who want to obtain postgraduate degrees from Japanese universities.   
    JSPS is a joint program of DOST and the Japanese government that aims to enhance human resource capabilities in R&D. It is currently under the office of DOST Assistant Secretary Lourdes P. Orijola.