A great Monday kick start! --- Mindanao State University - Naawan recently held an initial meeting with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, Telangana, India on February 20, 2023 via Google Meet. The virtual assembly was attended by the MSUN Chancellor, Dr. Elnor C. Roa; the Director for the Office of International Affairs and Linkages and Project Leader of the Research on Environment and Nanotechnology Laboratories, Dr. Rey Y. Capangpangan; and from IIT Hyderabad is the Associate Professor from the Department of Civil Engineering/Climate Change, Dr. Asif Qureshi; and Antonio F. Regis. Jr., a Filipino research scholar from the Department of Climate Change. Mr. Regis is a grantee of the Doctoral Fellowship in India for ASEAN program and he is currently working on his research entitled “Vulnerability of Coastal Habitats to Climate Change and Anthropogenic Impacts in Small Island Ecosystems” proposed to be conducted in the Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (SIPLAS), in the Philippines.

The IIT Hyderabad delegates stated that they are more than willing to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for potential research collaboration and international networking with MSUN. Chancellor Roa and Dr. Capangpangan were very receptive to this idea of collaboration. It is expected that the progress of this agreement will soon be officialized and this will mark yet another international linkage for OIAL and MSU Naawan as a whole.