#
Faculty, REPS, and professors emeriti from UP Mindanao—regardless of expertise in data science or artificial intelligence (AI)—are eligible to apply for the UP Intelligent Systems Center (UPISC) Research Grants for Fiscal Year 2025. Qualified applicants will be matched with AI or data science experts from other UP constituent universities, ensuring interdisciplinary collaboration and support.
This assurance was given by Prof. Eugene Rex Jalao, UPISC Chairperson for AI, and Prof. May Anne Mata, UP Mindanao’s ISC Chair for Complexity, during the ISC Caravan held on May 22, 2025, at the Center for the Advancement of Research in Mindanao (CARIM).
The professors emphasized that while the grants have three main priority areas—Digital Information Ecosystems and Misinformation Dynamics, Education, and Personalized Human-Centered Technologies—research proposals in any of the 13 supported domains are welcome.
These include—Agriculture; Climate change; Creative sector and cultural industries; Cybersecurity; Digital humanities; Diplomacy and foreign relations; Disaster risk reduction and management; Employment and services; Finance and banking; Health and medical sciences; Poverty; Public policy; Supply chain and logistics; and Transportation.
Prof. Mata also noted that exceptional proposals falling outside both the priority and supported areas may still receive funding.
Interested applicants may submit their research proposals through the official application form at https://bit.ly/iscresearch2526. The deadline for submissions is June 13, 2025. “Kaya pa yan,” Prof. Mata encouraged.
Attendees of the ISC Caravan included Prof. Larry Digal and University Researcher Malou Montiflor from the Agri Aqua Value Chain Lab, as well as representatives from Disease Watch and Analytics (DiWA), the DALISAI project, and various academic units.
Researchers engaged in UP Mindanao’s six research pillars—agri-food systems, bio-cultural diversity, sustainable environment, health, sports, and innovation—are well-positioned to qualify under the ISC grant program.
The event also featured presentations on AI and data science by Professors Jalao and Mata, respectively. ISC Deputy Director for Facilities, Prof. Johnrob Bantang, provided an overview of the UP Data Commons (UPDC), which underpins the UP Federated Intelligent Systems. The UPDC offers online services, virtual machine hosting, computational resources, data storage, and hardware allocation. Each constituent university, including UP Mindanao, is allocated ₱33 million and 60 TB of storage to support its research initiatives, including collaborations with State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).
