1. Program/curricular studies on higher education

• Assessment of present programs/curricula for improvement/reengineering of higher education program
• Pedagogies in Philippine educational system
• K12 studies on Basic Education, MTB-MLE, seamless learning, 21^stcentury skills and lifelong learning

2. Policy oriented studies

• Educational Administration and Governance
• Internationalization of higher education and academic exchange program
• Access and equity measures (policy on selective admission and scholarship), Tech-vocational Education

3. Quality and Standards in the context of:

• Revised Policy Guidelines on Accreditation and other quality assurance mechanisms.
• Quality assurance systems such as, ISA, ISO, etc.
• Equivalency
• Efficacy of educational processes
  • Instructional
  • Management
  • Policy

4. Technology and education (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)Framework

5. Universal Primary Education

• Literacy levels at marginalized sector
• Empowerment of teachers
• Improvement of quality education
  • Restructuring the curriculum
  • Teacher training
  • Basic education facilities and testing programs
  • Development of IMs

6. Manpower demand and supply studies

• Alignment of human capital development goal

7. Graduate tracer and impact studies

8. Performance in Board Examinations

9. Other topics considered by the CHED in response to the emerging needs of the country

AREA: Social sciences

Data Collection and Analysis of Social Phenomena

• • Computational and numerical modelling and simulations for social processes
  • Indigenous knowledge systems and practices on DRR and CCA
  • Climate Resiliency of highly vulnerable groups and communities (women, fisher folks, Indigenous People, coastal communities, etc.)
  • Gender in nation-building and DRR/CCA

2. Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge

• Documentation of traditional and indigenous health practices in the Philippines
• Extant cultural heritage of ethnolinguistic groups
• Dictionary of cultural metaphors
• Retrieval and documentation of indigenous technology in Filipino expressive culture
• Documentation of indigenous sustainable farming, fishing, and aquaculture practices

3. National Security and Sovereignty

• Peace and human rights studies and conflict resolution (studies on internal conflict and peace, human security as well as maritime and geopolitical studies)
• Sovereignty issues
• Human security (community, political, health, economic, environmental, personal)
• Social services
• Bureaucratic Efficiency

4. Arts, History and Culture

• Oral and Local Histories
• Heritage Conservation

#Cultural and Natural Heritage

• Heritage and Creative Industries
• Audience Reception Studies and Audience Analyses
• Transmission Practices
• Philippine Concepts and Practices of Aesthetics
• Traditional and Contemporary Forms of Artistic Expression
• Digital Cultural Resources
• Materials, Methods and Models of Cultural Heritage Conservation
• Analysis of Government Policies and Programs for Culture and the Arts
• Culture and Arts and Disaster Risk Reduction Management

5. Extant cultural heritage of ethnolinguistic groups

• Filipinnovation in music, theatre, dance, literature, performing arts (Innovation and New technologies in the Arts)
• Codification of endangered Philippine languages

6. Gender and feminist researches

7. Inclusive Nation- Building

• Heritage and Arts for Tourism and Creative Industries (HATCI)
• Defense and security
• Socio Economic Dimensions of Covid 19 and health emergencies
• assessment of remote and blended learning
• employment
• emerging e-commerce
• behavioral response; socialization process

1. Priority Diseases

      a. Communicable diseases

• Neglected Tropical diseases
• Emerging and Re- emerging diseases / infectious diseases
• Organisms associated with Multi Drug Resistance
• HIV AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections
• COVID-19
• Gastro urinary tract (GUT), Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and Hepatitis
• Respiratory diseases
• Tuberculosis, all forms

      b. Non-communicable diseases

• Malignant neoplasms, all sites
• Neurodegenerative and mental health disorders
• Metabolic Diseases, diabetes & other endocrine-related disorders
• Autoimmune/immunologic diseases or deficiencies
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system

2. Diagnostic test done at the time and place of patient care

      a. Screening / confirmatory / prognostic

• Screening to detect early disease or risk factors for disease
• Confirming the presence or absence of disease
• Prognosticating and predicting the likely outcome of disease, susceptibility and chances of recovery

3. Drug discovery and development

      a. Infectious diseases

• Bacterial infections (M. tuberculosis, Enterococcus faecium, S. aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii)
• Viral diseases (e.g. dengue, influenza)
• Fungal infections

      b. Non-communicable diseases

• Waterborne Infectious Diseases
• Lifestyle-related diseases (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), etc.)
• Cancer (colon, breast, lung)
• Respiratory diseases
• Neurodegenerative diseases

4. Hospital Equipment and Biomedical Devices

• Wound care
• Primary health care
• Persons with disabilities (PWD) assistive devices
• Hospital waste management
• Personal protective equipment Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Health

5. Disease management

6. Sexual and Reproductive Health

7. Mental health

8. Maternal Newborn and Child health

9. Health technology and Innovation

10. Health Promotion

11. Health of Vulnerable Populations

12. Health security, emergency and disaster and risk management

13. Health Systems strengthening towards UHC

14. Risk reduction and Climate Change

15. Mental Health and Substance Abuse

16. Health Governance and Policies

17. Tuklas Lunas (Drug Discovery and development)

18. Diagnostics

19. Functional Foods

20. OMIC Technology for health

21. Biomedical Devices Engineering for health

22. Digital and frontier health technologies

23. Disaster Risk Reduction/ Climate Change Adaptation in Health

24. Intellectual property and technology management program

25. Capacity Building Programs

26. Network Institution Development

27. Functional Foods

      a. Priority Foods

• Local Fruits (guyabano, tiesa, mangosteen)
• Local Vegetables (malunggay, okra, saluyot)
• Rootcrops, tubers and starchy food (yacon, sago, sweet potato varieties, purple yam)
• Rice (pigmented)
• Local berries (duhat, lipote, aratiles, bignay)
• Herbs and spices (tanglad, pandan, ginger e.g. turmeric)
• Nuts (pili)
• Seaweeds (lato, red seaweeds)
• Edible mushrooms

     b. Specific topics

• Characterization of food and food components
• Safety assessment
• Establishment of health benefits
• Product development

28. Nutrition and food quality and safety

      a. Food fortification

• Fortified multi-nutrient growth mix products
• Rice extrudate

      b. Development/revision of nutrition tools and standards

• Nutritional guidelines
• Halal in Health
• Food exchange list
• Body composition assessment

     c. Nutritional assessment and monitoring

• In-depth and correlation studies (dietary risk factors to non-communicable diseases)

     d. Nutrition surveys

     e. Enhancement of food composition database for dietary exposure assessment

           a. Exposure assessment of selected nutrients, food contaminants, and food additives in commonly consumed foods

           b. Food and Nutrition Security ( taxonomic study of flora and fauna as food sources; food safety of raw and processed foods of MSMEs; Halal Studies)

           c. Health Sufficiency

1. Crops R&D

      a. Germplasm evaluation, conservation, utilization and management

2. Varietal improvement and selection

3. Production of good quality seeds and planting materials

      a. Development/ optimization of seed production protocols

      b. Establishment of sustainable seed system

4. Cultural Management Practices

      a. Soil health, nutrient and water management

      b. Development of biofertilizers and soil fertility enhancers

      c. Development of eco-friendly pest and disease management and control strategies

      d. Organic Agriculture

5. Crop production systems research

      a. Smart farming approaches

      b. Off-season production and cultivation

      c. Development of climate-resilient technologies

     d. Urban farming

     e. Intercropping and integrated farming systems

6. Postharvest, processing and product development

7. Decision Support systems

   Priority Commodities Agriculture (Crops)

1. Abaca and other fiber crops
2. Coconut
3. Rice
4. Corn and Other Grains
5. Fruit Crops (Mango, banana & Other tropical fruits such as durian, jackfruit, pomelo, papaya, pineapple, citrus)
6. Legumes (e.g. mungbean, peanut and soybean)
7. Natural Sources of Dye
8. Pili and cashew
9. Ornamentals (cauliflower and foliage)
10. Medicinal Plants
11. Plantation Crops (Cacao, coffee, Oil Palm, Rubber, sugarcane)
12. Rootcrops (e.g. sweet potato, cassava)
13. Sericulture and Apiculture
14. Vegetables (e.g. tomato, white potato, mushroom)

8. Aquatic R&D

      a. New cultivable species for culture

      b. Development/ Refinement of culture systems (broodstock management, hatchery, nursery, grow-out)

      c. Fish health, disease diagnostics and disease management

      d. Nutrition, feeds and feeding systems

      e. Postharvest handling, processing and new product development

      f. Mechanization and automated systems for feeding, water and culture management and post production

      g. Fishkill warning and mitigation systems and environmental management for sustainable aquaculture

      h. Management of fisheries

      i. Roll out/ Commercialization of aquatic technologies

   Priority Commodities

1. Crabs (a. mangrove crab, b. Blue swimming crab)
2. Shellfish (a. Abalone, b. Mussel, c. Oyster)
3. Finfishes (a. Milkfish, b. Tilapia, c. endemic species, d. sardines, e. Tuna, f. Shrimp, g. Seaweeds, h. sea cucumber, i.  Cephalopods (Cuttlefish, Octopus, Squid)
4. Aquafeeds

9. Forestry R&D

      a. Development and sustainable management practices

      b. Development of high yielding varieties (HYVs) of priority timber species with superior traits

      c. Development of sustainable harvesting and postharvest techniques/technologies and marketing strategies for timber and non-timber forest species/products

      d. Innovative product development

      e. Physiological and ecological studies

10. Natural Resources and Environment R&D

      a. Sustainable utilization, conservation and management of biodiversity in terrestrial, forestry and marine ecosystems

      b. Sustainable watershed management and utilization

      c. Management and rehabilitation of problem, degraded and polluted agricultural soils through remediation

      d. Development of high value products from agricultural and forest wastes

      e. Strategies/decision management tools for climate change resilient environment

      f. Resource and ecosystems assessment and monitoring

      g. Habitat management for fishery and ecosystem sustainability

      h. Marine environmental management (to include Harmful Algal Blooms, coastal integrity/erosion, fish kills and eutrophication)

      i. Ecotourism Management

      j. Innovative management systems for unique landscapes and ecosystems

      k. Reef assessment, monitoring and conservation

      l. Control and management of risks and hazards in water ecosystems

      m. Water Security

           > watershed studies

           > water quality, accessibility and availability

     n. Assessment of natural resource carrying capacity/ ecological limits

     o. Natural capital accounting

Priority Commodities (Natural resources & Environment)

1. Timber (Tree Plantations (e.g. yemane, falcata)
2. Non- timber

                 a. Bamboo

                 b. Rattan

                 c. sago

                 d. Tiger grass

                 e. Vines and non- timber

                 f. Biodiversity

                    – Ecosystem (e.g. mangrove, marine freshwater)

                    – Microbial

                    – Flora and Fauna

                    – Ecotourism

                 g. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

11. Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction

      a. Mitigation and adaptation studies of vulnerable communities and ecosystems (including protected agriculture, vertical agriculture)

      b. Development of smart farming approaches (including organic agriculture, integrated farming, ICT application) and other climate-resilient agricultural production     technologies

      c. Development of strategies/decision management tools for climate change resilient environment (e.g. farm diversification)

      d. Enhancing sustainable development through lifescape-landscape approach

12. Technology Transfer

      a. Development of innovative and improvement of traditional extension modalities for the efficient transfer of technologies to end-users

      b. Upscaling of agricultural technology transfer and commercialization

      c. Leveraging technologies for building resilience and supporting economic recovery

13. Socio-Economics, Policy Research and Governance

      a. Continuing review of existing policies affecting the AANR sectors

      b. Policy research and advocacy on natural resources/environment-related issues, agricultural trade, supply chain/value chain related issues, standards and regulations, compliance to standards across the value chain and R&D governance, and other cross- cutting policy    

      c. Impact assessment of technologies, AANR programs and projects

      d. Socio-economic studies on production and marketing efficiencies, role of social institutions in technology adoption, labor migration, development of social enterprise models, gender and development

      e. Agriculture and resource economic studies including market research, agrarian/asset reform, environmental valuation, economies of scale/collective farming

      f. Policy studies on global competitiveness of Philippines AANR sector

      g. Integrating gender and development (GAD) in AANR programs and projects

      h. Software technologies towards better foresight and strategic insights

      i. Applied rural sociology studies covering but not limited to characterization and understanding rural communities; demographic and intergenerational changes of AANR stakeholders (e.g. farmers, fishers, Ips); social practices and behavior and their implications to technology adoption; role social institutions and institutional arrangements

      j. Supply value/ value chain development of selected AANR industries and other agribusiness related activities

      k. Impact assessment of mature technologies, AANR programs and projects

      l. Human Capital Systems ( Human Development, Science Communication and Knowledge Management)

      m. Efficient and impactful AANR human development programs

      n. Public engagement and communicating AANR R&D to build vibrant communities in science- oriented nation

      o. Systems approach to knowledge management and cross R&D collaborations

1. Food Safety and Quality

      a. Affordable Tests for Food Contaminants

• • Rapid test kits, electronic sensors for common food contaminants (Microbiological contaminants, Histamine)
  • Migration test kit for various food packaging materials (paper and plastic)

      b. Development of Food Safety Rating and Grading System for Food Service Establishments

      c. Safe and Regulatory-Compliant Food Products and Processes

      d. Improvement of Food Shelf-life

      e. Innovative Food Products

2. Countryside Development

      a. Agro-Processing, Utilization and Value-Adding

      b. Natural Products Development

      c. Improvement of Textile Processing

      d. Shop Floor R&D and Innovations

      e. Regional Consortia R&D

3. Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Solutions

      a. Energy Efficiency/Alternative Fuels and Conservation

      b. Energy-efficient technologies for industry and buildings

      c. Standards development

     d. Renewable Energy (RE) Systems & Bioenergy Technologies -Increase the adaptation and adoption of renewable energy systems

     e. Cost-effective RE technologies and business models integration for sustainable off- grid power supply

     f. Efficient micro-hydro and hydrokinetic turbines

     g. Bioenergy technologies

     h. Wind energy

      i. Solar power concentrators (SCP)

      j. Solar heating and cooling (SHC)

4. Functional materials for alternative energy sources and energy conversion and storage Systems and processes for surface modification of various materials

      a. Superconducting wires, liquid electrode material systems, superconducting transformers

      b. Cost competitive solar cells

      c. Platinum – and palladium – based anode catalyst for direct ethanol fuel cell

      d. Direct ethanol fuel cell-powered LED emergency light

5. Smart Energy Efficient Systems for Low Carbon Economy

      a. Efficient hydrokinetic energy harvesting systems

      b. Sustainable urban waste to energy conversion

6. Affordable and Clean Energy Health Care 

7. Emerging technologies

      a. Additive Manufacturing

      b. Advanced Materials

      c. Materials for Energy

      d. Nanotechnology

      e. Optics and Photonics

      f. Electronics Industry

      g. ICT Innovations

      h. Industry 4.0

      i. Quantum technology

      j. Smart Cities

      k. Artificial Intelligence

      l. Creative Industries

      m. Space Technology and Application

      n. Transportation

      o. Energy

      p. Utilities

      q. Metals and engineering

      r. Environment

      s. Mining and Minerals

      t. Technology Transfer Program

      u. Startup Development Program

      v. Commercialization and utilization of technologies

      w. Technology Business Incubation Programs

      x. Science Communication

1. ICT, Electronics and Semiconductor

      a. Big Data Analytics

      b. Advanced Electronics and Communications (e.g. photonics & opto-electronics devices, semiconductor materials, etc.)

2. Human Security

       a. Food Defense

      b. Biosecurity

      c. Cybersecurity

3. Construction

      a. New Construction Materials and Techniques

4. Packaging

      a. Smart and Green Packaging Technology

      b. Appropriate Packaging System for Various Products

5. Environment and Pollution Control

      a. Cleaner and safer technologies for application to industrial wastewater, waste management, safe and potable drinking water, and other pressing environmental problems

      b. Field-testing/application of cleaner technologies for the benefit of the industry, domestic households and general public

      c. Materials that detoxify harmful substances in water

      d. Mineralization of pollutants

      e. Potable water

      f. Storm water and storage and rainwater technologies

      g. Waste Water Remediation

      h. Materials and processes for desalination

      i. Alternative materials and processes that will reduce or eliminate hazardous substances in the environment and manufacturing sites

      j. New wastewater purification technologies and reuse of wastewater purification technologies and wastewater treatment/rehabilitation technologies

      k. Technologies for Disposal, Recycling, and Treatment of Metal Wastes

6. Air Pollution Control and Management

      a. Reduction of risks of H2S emission in the environmental and industrial sectors

      b. Emission reduction focusing on efficient and clean technologies

      c. H2S gas sensor

      d. Alternative anti-pollutant agents

      e. Development of sensors for air quality monitoring

7. Solid Waste Management

      a. Impact on emission of pollution from solid waste

      b. New product development from solid waste Solid waste minimization

8. Disaster Risk Reduction And Climate Change Adaptation (DRR & CCA) from Sendai Framework 2015-2030

      a. Technology Development and Application for Monitoring – Development of instruments and data processing and analysis systems, application of technologies for improved monitoring of weather, climate, geologic and oceanographic processes.

• • Hydro-meteorological and oceanographic Instruments
  • Volcano, earthquake, tsunami and landslide monitoring instruments
  • Instrument test bed facilities

      b. Geological Disaster Information Portal

      c. Risk communication

      d. Community traditional media systems

      e. Indigenous knowledge systems and practices

9. Technology Development and Application for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

      a. Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Emissions

      b. Bio-Fuel from Forest Residues

      c. Energy-efficient products, Non-fossil fuels

      d. Microbial Biotechnology for Sustainable Waste Management and Alternative Energy Source

      e. Resource efficient and cleaner production for industries

      f. Food, Water, Health Security

      g. Preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.

• • Stakeholders-needs and disaster-information gap assessment and bridging for disaster
  • Hazards and risk perception or behavior
  • Institutional or social preparedness and response
  • Projections and impact scenarios for preparedness to respond and recover
  • Tools (including software) for mainstreaming DRR-CCA into contingency planning and local development and planning process
  • Technologies and products for disaster mitigation (disaster-prone) and recovery(disaster-stricken) of communities
  • Technologies for addressing drought (i.e. cloud seeding)
  • Climate and disaster resilient infrastructure
  • Climate and disaster resilient livelihood / business (business continuity)
  • Gender equality and integration in science and technology for DRR and CCA partnership

      h. Policy Research – Development of policies for climate mitigation and adaptation and disaster risk management

• • Policy research for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
  • Policy research for Disaster Risk Management

10. Sustainable Communities

• Vulnerable ecosystems ( lakes, rivers, wetlands, seas and oceans)
• Greening Mined Out areas in the Philippines (GMAP)
• Risk communication studies for disaster management
• Biodiversity and ecosystem studies