The UA&P Sciences Engineering and Management Research Institute (UA&P-SEMRI) and the University of the Philippines - National Center for Transportation Studies (UP-NCTS) signed in February an agreement to undertake collaboration in the field of transportation and logistics research and dissemination.

UP NCTS is an internationally recognized research center in the field of transportation studies with a mission to contribute to national growth and development by supporting academic instruction, conducting and promoting scholarly research, training, information, and other extension services in the field of transportation.

Under the agreement, the two research centers will undertake research on the following themes: transportation equity and justice, mobilization of financing for informal public transportation, and property value capture.

Established in December 2021, SEMRI is a collaboration between the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE) and the School of Management (SMN) of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P). Its vision is to be a leading trans- and multi-disciplinary research institute on the theme of societal innovation and sustainability in the Global South, using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. Its mission is to advance sustainable development goals in the Global South through research, technology, and policies.

Since its establishment, SEMRI-affiliated researchers have already published a total of nine (9) Scopus-indexed articles in transportation, sustainable financing, energy, and digital innovation. Transportation, which is one of SEMRI's priority research areas, emerged at the top of the research topics in UA&P, based on EduRank. The independent university ranking system rated UA&P as the 13th best higher education institution in the Philippines. 

In March 2023, SEMRI conducted the 1st Policy Dialogue on Service Contracting for Efficient and Equitable Public Transport Systems. This was attended by key stakeholders from the government, private sector, academe, and consultancy firms.

ACTIVITIES FOR 2023
● SEMRI is organizing the 1st Physical Internet for Logistics Conference with the theme: “Meeting the Global Logistics Challenge in the Philippines through the Physical Internet”. For more details, visit https://sites.google.com/uap.asia/physicalinternetph/conference.

● SEMRI is also organizing webinars related to transportation: https://sites.google.com/uap.asia/transportsciph/.

● SEMRI is also conducting several research studies related to transportation, logistics, clean water, renewable energy, etc. These activities need funding ranging from P25,000 (for webinars) to P100,000 (for events/day including meals and honoraria of speakers if hosted in UA&P). To financially support the research activities of SEMRI, kindly contact Dr. Enrique Ligot at [email protected] or [email protected].

CONTACT PERSONS FOR SEMRI
Dr. Enrique M. Ligot - SEMRI Executive Director and Vice Dean  of the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE)
Dr. Varsolo C. Sunio - SEMRI Chief Research Fellow and SMN/SSE part-time faculty 
Ms. Karen Victoria Aragoncillo - SEMRI Administrative Officer and SSE Admin Staff