“CIDS Montage” © UP CIDS (1999).

A collage that reflects the dynamic and multifaceted initiatives of the organization.

HISTORY

In the early 1980s, then UP President Edgardo J. Angara envisioned a policy research unit that will harness the multidisciplinary expertise of UP toward the resolution of the nation’s critical problems. In response, the UP President’s Committee for the Establishment of a Strategic Areas Studies Unit was created and the committee submitted its recommendations on the creation of a university-based think tank.

On June 13, 1985, the UP Board of Regents (BOR) approved the establishment of the University Center for Strategic and Development Studies (UCSDS). The center’s name was soon changed to the University Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UCIDS), and eventually, the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS).

MANDATE

As stated in the Executive Order 9 issued on September 24, 1985 by former UP President Angara, the objectives and functions of the Center are as follows:

• Develop, organize, and manage research issues of national significance. Such issues, because of their importance and inherent complexity, require an integrative and collaborative approach and also more sophisticated research methodologies and skills;
• Encourage and support research and study on these issues by various units of the University and individual scholars;
• Secure funding from public and private persons and agencies; and
• Ensure that the research outputs and recommendations of the Center are published and openly disseminated.

In May 1993, UP CIDS identified a three-pronged strategy to achieve its objectives.  These are to:

• Set a track record that will enhance the reputation of UP CIDS and make it visible to recognized scholars;
• Convene core Fellows to develop research agenda and programs in policy areas; and
• Establish linkages with other sectors and policymakers through collaborative research, discussion fora, and research dissemination activities.

The UP Strategic Plan 2017–2023 provides further guidance to the Center’s activities by stressing the University’s role in

• Contributing to national development through knowledge creation and public service, and
• Promoting access and diversity through enhancing structures and policies for collaboration and undertaking internationalization efforts.