International experience in human resource development in biotechnology: achievements and lessons learnt Tatsuji Seki Toshiomi Yoshida Takuya Nihira Edgar DaSilva* *Corresponding author
Biotechnology is an important and emerging field but is largely interdisciplinary in nature. Biotechnology is an academic field that is rich in applications relating to the use of agricultural resources and residues that occur naturally and abundantly as assets of economic significance in virtually all Asian countries The UNESCO International Postgraduate University Course in Microbiology designed and held in Japan, in fulfilment of the recommendations adopted at a UNESCO General Conference, in Paris, France, has been conducted over a 30-year period for the purposes of stimulating academic investment in the concepts and project applications of microbiology for national development and regional cooperation. Training is oriented towards developing a spirit of scientific enquiry, education and research in the Asian region and is provided throughout a twelve-month period. Microbiology occupies a strategic position in many Asian developing countries with agrarian-based economies. The emergence of novel bio-industries provides further economic inputs that help sustain technical advancement and economic progress. In this article, we are trying to look into one of the major area of biotechnology that is the microbiology. Internal and external teams of top-level national and foreign experts have evaluated the activities of the course. Achievements and lessons learnt are described.
The Government of Japan submitted a resolution to the 12th session of General Conference of UNESCO to initiate in the biennium 1963/1964 a programme promoting research in microbiology for the benefit of humankind. Acceptance of the Japanese resolution in 1963 by UNESCO's Member States acknowledged the necessity of domesticating and harnessing the resource of microorganisms for the benefit of all countries. Furthermore, it led to the beginning and to the establishment of a programme of long-term international training courses (Table 1) amongst which the long-term UNESCO International Postgraduate University Course in Microbiology features as an integral component of capacity-building activities in developing countries by UNESCO's Natural Sciences Sector. In In 1978
the course was administered and managed by the newly established International
Centre of Cooperative Research and Development in Microbial Engineering
(ICME) at the Faculty of Engineering, Since 1973 eminent Japanese scientists as course Directorswith other Japanese colleagues and universities inspired the development and evolution of the program outline of lectures and experimental work throughout the 30 year life period of the course. Their professional commitment and high academic standards have contributed to the fulfilment of the mission statement of the Course. Furthermore, they have helped in shaping the scientific advancement and formation of biotech careers of over 400 of Asian young men and women coming from some sixteen countries.
For the
past three decades the course has been organized by The sponsors of the course have been the Japanese Government, UNESCO and the International Cell Research Organization (ICRO). Cooperating organizations morally supporting the course are The Society for Bioscience and Bioengineering; the Japan Society of Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agro-chemistry, and the International Committee on Economic and Applied Microbiology/ International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS). No financial support to the course is provided either by ICRO or any of the cooperating organizations.
The course
program begins with a two-month introductory phase in The lecture component is comprised of fundamental, advanced and specialized lectures and seminars accompanied by laboratory experiments that help participants refresh or update their laboratory skills prior to their assignment to the participating universities. The total duration of the course is of one-year from October to September of the next calendar year. The proposed research themes in the courses offered to the participants for conducting a 10 month research project at an assigned laboratory are summarized in the Table 2. Conducting of a research project is obligatory since it allows the candidate to gain an in-depth knowledge of the subject matter and to gain confidence and skills in learning and using advanced research techniques.
The administration
and organizational implementation of the UNESCO International Postgraduate
University Course in Microbiology are with the The
Steering Committee, comprised of the Secretary-General of the Japanese
National Commission for UNESCO, eight professors from Tohoku (1),
Tokyo (1), Kyoto (2), Kyushu (2) and Osaka (2) universities, and the
Director of the Administrative Bureau of Osaka University, decided
the final slate of course participants. The physical involvement
of such high-ranking officials and academic staff illustrates the
degree of professional commitment and time that guarantee the high
quality of the course in capacity building in Applications
made by recommendation or in a private capacity are not accepted.
The selection of participants consists of two steps: (1) preliminary
screening and (2) selection at the steering committee meeting. Items
shown in Annex 2 are screened during the first
step and recorded with details on the origin of the applicants' countries
and regions (Table 3). Preliminary screening
is done by three to four professors of ICBiotech and of the Department
of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The items considered for each applicant in the preliminary screening are based on several criteria such as academic records of undergraduate and graduate courses; record of research achievement after university graduation; record of publications; field of research preference during the course; language proficiency; recommendation letters and prospective view after the course. Where relevant, the views of the laboratory hosting a successful assigned applicant may be taken into consideration. The number of candidates meeting the course qualifications is about 2 fold for consideration at the final selection meeting. The number of participants considered is limited by the restrictions of the available budget. The health certificates of candidates successful in the first screening are checked again by doctors at the Health Administration Centre of Osaka University.
The
course is financed mainly by an annual budgetary allocation of US
$350,000 from the Government of Japan made available through the Japanese
National Commission of UNESCO in the Ministry of Education, Science,
Sports, Culture and Technology. Details concerning internal budgetary
allocations and considerations between the Japanese National Commission
for UNESCO and In 1998
as a consequence of a cutback in the ODA budget, the number of participants
was reduced to seven. In the following year, the total number of participants
was restored to
An in-depth evaluation of this 30 year old activity was organized notwithstanding the annual assessments done following the conclusion of each course held since its inception in 1973. Additional reasons for this wide-ranging evaluation exercise were the increasing financial constraints resulting from economic climate of recession, and the constantly evolving science of biotechnology. Moreover, the evaluation coincided with the temporary closure of the course for 2003 resulting from the nation-wide review of the Japanese university education system and the possibility of cessation of governmental funding. Hence, the evaluation provided an opportunity to consider a newly-resumed course with wider adaptation of course programs to reflect current biotech developments and future trends, and bio-societal issues such as biosafety and intellectual property rights. The evaluation
exercise involved internal and external exercises. The internal evaluation
was conducted by an 8 member team of professors from each of the five
participating universities (with four representatives from The meeting of internal and external teams was held separately under the Chairmanship of the Director of ICBiotech using data collected and surveys made on course alumni by ICBiotech staff. The evaluation teams examined the following: application and selection methods; the timetable of application and selection; documents required for application; necessary information required by the applicants; course programme; accommodation; medical care; pledge; etc.; graduated participants' performance reports; evaluation by graduated participants; evaluation by academics in the participants' countries of origin. The inputs
from evaluation by diplomats in There
is virtual unanimity in the results of the evaluation by the internal
and external evaluators respectively as well as in that of the overview
evaluation made by the consuls in Notwithstanding the resulting unanimity in the evaluation, several suggestions and viewpoints were expressed for consideration in framing the future perspectives of the new course. Policies concerning non-acceptance of private applications and recommendations, of the documents to be submitted by applicants, and of the timetables of application and selection were endorsed. Since existence
of the course from Final selection
by the Steering Committee took into account a recheck of the health
certificates; and, the differing levels of graduate education amongst
and in the countries of origin of the participants. Moreover, greater
weight age in consideration is given to academic records rather to
accompanying letters of recommendation. On occasion the Steering committee
exercised its discretion in giving favourable consideration to candidates
from late developing countries like Other components of the programme outline ---study tours, laboratory experiments, research training and research presentations were highly appreciated and received with enthusiasm by all participants with the hope that time allocations for research training and experimental work, and budgetary resources for study tours, be increased. Some dissatisfaction relating to the lecture component can be ascribed to the differing levels of ability to understand the more advanced and specialized lectures. The external evaluators pay tribute to and emphasize the devoted commitment and enthusiasm of the Japanese professors who give willingly of their time and resources; and recommend the inclusion of cross-cutting themes such as bio-safety and intellectual property rights. In general, assistance and facilities provided for accommodation were appreciated though actual living conditions may have had a bearing on the evaluation made by the participants. Also, there is general agreement that teaching staff be spared the burden of attending to accommodation problems and that participants and international sponsors take note that the accommodation provided for the course participants and those scholars on Japanese government fellowships is of the same uniform standard. There are no differences for the two categories of students.
The external
evaluation team without hesitation recognizes the significant contribution
made by A questionnaire
sent to high officials in main universities of ·
Young scientists from developing countries e.g. a) Acquire the theory and use of high-grade equipment that is not easily available in their home countries. b) Expand their fields of scientific research in microbiology and opportunities for career development. c) Engage in international technical and cultural exchanges. d) Enrich the participants' understanding of Japanese science and culture. · Techniques learnt can be adapted for use by the participants' on return mindful of existing conditions in their home countries. Since participants were often frustrated by not having equipment, chemical reagents and high-level technical resources to which they had been exposed in Japanese laboratories for use on return their home countries. This latter fact needs further attention. · Emerging fields such as bioinformatics, bioprocess technology, gene cloning, biopharmaceuticals, monoclonal antibodies and vaccine production technology should be further highlighted in the course. · The international postgraduate university course in microbiology has been found to be a suitable spin-off resource in functioning as a human network of course graduates that helps in finding solutions to their requirements in some of the late developing countries concerning constraints relating to existing research facilities. ·
The annual successes of the UNESCO courses added further to the well-known
worldwide reputation of · Fundamental, advanced and specialized lectures should cover: molecular biology, chemistry and bioprocess engineering; metabolic engineering and other fields of Biotechnology such as plant and animal science/engineering; animal cell culture and medical biotechnology.
In
It is evident that the selected participants look upon the course as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to advance their academic careers and contribution to science education in their home countries. This conclusion is borne out the inputs made by the survey respondents several of whom are contributing to institutional governance and administration (Table 7). The data on a stand alone basis shows that the course has made a positive contribution to the career development of its graduates and to the advancement of science education in their home countries through the prestigious administrative positions held in the framing of science policy and decision-making. Table 8 provides data on the number of publications authored by course alumni. This output emerged from the research activities of course alumni was a rewarding and unexpected surprise to the course management personnel and Japanese professors. These survey results and post-course outputs came as an unexpected bonus to the course management, and to the professors and administrative staff of the five participating universities. Whilst constituting an indisputable fact that the research activities of the course have had a significant input in this development, it was on the other hand a matter of great satisfaction, pride and reward and to the host professors of the five participating universities to see their inputs and efforts having borne in the post-course careers and work of their students. Generally-speaking all participants (100%) found the course activity and utility to be excellent. These positive responses indicate that the purpose of the course had been achieved satisfactorily. More than 95% of the participants found the course to provide a solid basis in scientific education and research work back in their own institutions. And though 75% found the course to be beneficial in the development and advancement of their careers, 25% were of the view that it had no impact in furthering either their managerial or academic careers. In the latter case, this may be ascribed to the fact that training provides leads to a diploma and not to a Ph.D. degree as many course participants in successive courses so desire. This desire that this course be recognized for the Ph.D. is another indication of the high quality of the research training and the lectures provided. However, on an overall basis, it is clear that the course has been catalytic to help course graduates to obtain their PhD degree back in their home countries and to engage in international cooperation as key resource persons making significant research contributions through: I. The Japan Society for Promotion of Science Core University Program for Southeast Asian countries functions out of Osaka that coordinates the entire activity the outputs of which are:" ·
A bilateral project on Microbial Technology in Agro-industries between
· Bilateral programs in Biotechnology between: (1)
(2)
(3)
In these
programmes the course participants joined the activities such as collaborative
multilateral research projects in the field of biotechnology in which
the participants joined the activities as key resource persons to
form a close network of trained resources in course alumni that contributed
to the advancement of science education in the Department of Microbiology,
Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Thailand; Faculty of Agricultural
Technology, Gadjah Mada Univeristy, Indonesia, and BIOTECH, University
of the Philippines, Philippines. This network provides a human face
to the follow-up work of the UNESCO postgraduate course that guarantees
the international character of the research projects and that illustrates
the stance of II. In the Asian Microbiology Network Program by the Japanese Science Technology Agency, (STA) III. The Culture Collection Program in the Bioresources Center (BRC) started in 2002 by the Ministry of Economy and Industry (METI) with activities in culture collection research and the gene collection project IV. The new project "Tropical Bioresources and Green Chemistry Strategy" supported by the Special Coordination Fund for Promoting Science and Technology with Professor Toshiomi Yoshida as project leader.
As a result of the evaluation and the views obtained from as wide a circle of course alumni, consular representatives, high officials in the main universities of several countries, and notwithstanding the high grades obtained as well as the remarkable and sustained appreciation of the course activities carried out annually over a 30 year period, there are several lessons to be learnt. These are as: There needs
to be a far greater effort to disseminate the course through Internet
and through the website of UNESCO and its network of regional offices
in Asia as a means to counteract the unawareness of the course and
the lack of cooperation by some National Commissions in the region
of The significant contribution of Japan, through the course to the advancement of developing countries in Asia in scientific research in biotechnology -a field in which Japan occupies an acknowledged world position, is not widely known to decision-makers and policy-framers in these countries, and needs to be addressed through more interactive consultation with the concerned UNESCO National Commissions. To offset the effects of budgetary constraints, more efforts should be made to secure additional financial resources and especially from the private sector since such resources can help meet costs incurred for the travel of Japanese lecturers, expansion of scientific visits and study tours, etc. UNESCO should provide a credible financial contribution rather than one that is "nominal" in content. To address the frustration that course participants experience on return to their home countries after exposure to high-quality lectures and equipment, the organization of lectures on "On how to conduct research in the developing countries" would greatly help course participants to adapt, innovate and respond to existing conditions in doing research in their own home countries. Consideration should be given to the use of Internet to enhance the efficiency of the preliminary selection process and to reduce the burden on the staff of ICBiotech and the participating universities engaged in this exercise. Differing levels of comprehension of course lectures and laboratory protocols need to be addressed by more attention to language proficiency, and through the provision of a series of introductory lectures and experiments that could help reduce the gap between participants from the late and the more advance developing countries. More emphasis should be given to the analysis of experimental data and results. Provision of facilities contributes to better learning and conduction of research i.e. as was seen in the day-care facilities made available for a young child. In view of the numerous annual demands made, attention should be given to recognizing the course as a pre-training course for the Ph. D. degree.
Since 1973
when efforts continued at an impressive level in harnessing the beneficial
activities of microorganisms for human welfare, microbiology, indeed,
as come a long way. Successive course prospectuses have reflected
the changing emphasis given to fermentation technology, use of renewable
resources, genetics, computer-aided bio-process, ecosystem study,
and now the emerging fields of bioinformatics, gene cloning biopharmaceutical
production, vaccine technology, and transgenic "animal" factories.
Today, biotechnology is an amalgam of disciplines embracing the life
and engineering sciences through biochemistry, mathematics and the
computer sciences to genetics, molecular biology, microbiology, medicine
and the neurosciences, thus giving rise to close interaction with
domains of information technology and nanotechnology. In this regard,
the evaluation of the course has shown that the concept of biotechnology
and its practice varies in style, scale and substance amongst and
in the countries of Asia and especially in the region of The evaluation
has also shown through the differing levels of science education and
research in In conclusion,
unanimous agreement in the internal and external evaluations provides
satisfactory justification that the course has made to international
cooperation in microbiology, and to Japan's position as a benefactor
in the provision of technical assistance and knowledge in the exciting
and modern field of biotechnology to |
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