Of the 12 scientists and researchers who were given the 2020 Outstanding Young Scientist Awards (OYS) by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), seven are from the University of the Philippines.
The OYS Awards are given annually by NAST to young Filipino scientists under 41 years old who have made significant contributions to science and technology. According to the NAST website, a total of 12 OYS Awards are available annually, split among the following divisions: Biological Sciences; Chemical, Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Engineering Sciences and Technology; Health Sciences; and Social Sciences. NAST is the country’s highest recognition and scientific advisory body for science and technology.
The seven new Outstanding Young Scientists from UP are: Dr. Jaime Alfonso M. Aherrera (UP Manila); Dr. Aries A. Arugay (UP Diliman); Dr. Marlon T. Conato (UP Diliman); Dr. Remil L. Galay (UP Los Baños); Dr. Francis Norman C. Paraan (UP Diliman); Dr. Betchaida D. Payot (UP Diliman); and, Dr. Rodney H. Perez (UP Los Baños).
They were chosen based on: the quality and number of scientific works and publications; contributions to the advancement of science in general and in the Philippines; and, contributions to the well-being of the Philippine economy and culture.
Dr. Jaime Alfonso M. Aherrera (UP Manila)
Aherrera is a researcher and a physician who specializes in interventional cardiology, adult cardiology and internal medicine. He completed his training at the UP Philippine General Hospital.
Dr. Aries A. Arugay (UP Diliman)
Arugay’s research interests focus on political polarization, regional civil society, performative populism and regime instability in democratic regimes. He is a professor at the UP Diliman Department of Political Science and a fellow of the Strategic Studies Program of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies.
Dr. Marlon T. Conato (UP Diliman)
Conato is an associate professor at the UP Diliman Institute of Chemistry. He specializes in solid state chemistry, inorganic chemistry and material science. His publications center on metal-organic frameworks, zeolites, microporous crystals, polymer nanocomposites and inorganic catalysts.
Dr. Remil L. Galay (UP Los Baños)
Galay, an associate professor at the UP Los Baños College of Veterinary Medicine, currently works on ticks and tick-borne diseases. His work has led to discoveries on animal parasitic diseases, a significant contribution to his area of research.
Dr. Francis Norman C. Paraan (UP Diliman)
Paraan, an associate professor at the UP Diliman National Institute of Physics, carries out research in areas such as entanglement, parallel computing and stochastic processes. He has made valuable editorial contributions to the fields of computational and theoretical physics.
Dr. Betchaida D. Payot (UP Diliman)
Payot is an associate professor at UP Diliman National Institute of Geological Sciences. She is known for her research in igneous petrology and geochemistry.
Dr. Rodney H. Perez (UP Los Baños)
Perez studies peptides, antimicrobials, protein purification and food biotechnology. He is a university researcher at the UP Los Baños National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and the chief editor of the Journal of Science and Technology.
Galay, Paraan, and Payot are recipients of the Balik PhD grant implemented by the UP Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Original article from the website of the UP Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
(This was originally posted on the UP System website on June 18, 2020)