Speaker 1: (00:01)
Hello?
(00:01)
Hi.
Speaker 2: (00:06)
[PI 00:00:06]
Speaker 1: (00:09)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (00:12)
Miss [PI 00:0012] Sorry about that. My colleague, who was supposed to call you suddenly fell sick today, so I am calling on his behalf. Will that be okay?
Speaker 1: (00:25)
Okay.
(00:27)
All right now.
Speaker 2: (00:29)
Okay. So, first of all, thank you so much. And did my colleague make made a full introduction of why we are calling and everything?
Speaker 1: (00:40)
Not really much just brief introduction about the Newton fund.
Speaker 2: (00:46)
Yes. So, you recently participated on an online survey regarding your involvement in Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to the survey. The results are now being analyzed. Tetra tech also asked if you would be willing to take part in follow-up, a telephone survey to explore your experiences. Okay. So, you can also ask questions or stop the interview at any time. The interview will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes of your time protecting your privacy and confidentiality is important information already held about you from Tetra tech and your responses to the online survey that you previously participated in will be appended to your survey results. The answers you provide to this survey will be audio recorded, transcribed, and shared with Tetra tech. Everything you say will be treated in the strictest confidence, and we will combine your responses with those from other award holders in a way which will ensure that the UK department for business energy and industrial strategy, will not be able to identify you in our report. Okay?
Speaker 1: (02:05)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (02:06)
Before we start, I just want to clarify that participation in the survey is voluntary, and you can change your mind at any time. Are you happy to proceed with the interview?
Speaker 1: (02:28)
The Newton fund or the participant lend them?
Speaker 2: (02:37)
We are just asking you, are you happy to proceed with the interview? Yes.
(02:43)
Okay. Yes.
Speaker 2: (02:45)
Okay. Right. So, the survey has been designed in English. Are you comfortable to proceed?
Speaker 1: (02:59)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (03:04)
Okay. All right. So moving on please note that the questions have been designed to cover a broad range of themes, different Newton fund award holders in different countries as a range of disciplines. If you feel that any of the questions asked are not relevant to you or your project, please just say so, and we will skip to the next one. Okay. All right. So, I would like to start by confirming a few basic details. Your name is [PI 00:03:04].
(03:42)
Yes.
(03:43)
Okay. Right. And based on your response to the online survey, the most recent activity you were involved in when you replied to the survey was, received a grant to spend time at a university. Can you confirm this is correct?
(04:03)
Yes.
(04:04)
Okay. Right. And the most recent Newton, UK Thailand research and innovation partnership fund activity you were involved in when you reply to this survey was in Thailand, is this correct?
Speaker 1: (04:20)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (04:21)
Okay. So is your project completed?
Speaker 1: (04:27)
You mean the project?
Speaker 2: (04:30)
Yes. Is your project completed?
(04:33)
No.
(04:34)
No, it is still ongoing. Okay?
(04:35)
yes.
(04:38)
Okay. Right. And so we would now like to ask you some questions regarding your experience with this project, we will start some high-level thematic questions about impact of the project. So here comes, do you expect your project to have influence on any of these in your country or elsewhere? So you can simply answer by saying yes or no. So the first one is gender equality. Yes or no?
Speaker 1: (05:08)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (05:10)
Okay. Creating collaborative solutions to development changes yes or no?
(05:17)
Yes.
(05:18)
Okay. Do you expect your project to have influence on environmental sustainability? Yes or no?
Speaker 1: (05:26)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (05:28)
Yes. Okay. Do you, next one is improved social development? Yes or no?
Speaker 1: (05:38)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (05:40)
Okay. Yes. Next one is poverty reduction. Yes or no?
Speaker 1: (05:48)
Property reduction mean, what is Property?
Speaker 2: (05:53)
Not Property, poverty, P O V E R T Y.
Speaker 3: (06:07)
But what, what is the meaning of this?
Speaker 2: (06:11)
P O V E R T Y, poverty.
Speaker 3: (06:18)
Sorry. I do not know the meaning; let us skip.
Speaker 2: (06:23)
Poverty, meaning poor, P O O R, poor.
(06:30)
Improve the poor?
(06:33)
Yes. Meaningless poor. Poverty reduction?
Speaker 3: (06:42)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (06:43)
Yes. Next one is economic development.
Speaker 3: (06:49)
Economy. Maybe not.
Speaker 2: (06:52)
No. So gender equality is yes. Right? Gender equality.
(06:58)
Yes.
(06:58)
Right. So moving on, why do you say that your project is likely to have an influence in creating collaborative solutions to development challenges?
Speaker 3: (07:12)
Because for this funding we have collaborated with the UK.
Speaker 2: (07:19)
I know. So, could you please provide more detail on this?
Speaker 3: (07:28)
We develop a project together.
Speaker 2: (07:31)
Okay. And?
Speaker 3: (07:34)
And the project will benefit for the economics. And,
Speaker 2: (07:42)
Sorry, we are not talking about the economics at the moment. We will talk about the economics later. Here we want to move why did you say that your project is likely to have an influence in creating collaborative solutions to development challenges?
Speaker 3: (08:01)
Development challenges, this project, this Newton fund, I will do research only in Thailand, because of Newton fund projects. I have a chance to find that. Okay. Collaborate, and we work together. So, that is for research development.
Speaker 2: (08:32)
Okay. Moving onto the next question, then why do you say that your project is likely to have an influence in poverty reduction?
Speaker 3: (08:43)
Poverty reduction, because our project is to work on the bacterial effect, to improve chicken farming instead of using antibiotics. So if the project is successful, then the farmer will have an alternative approach to work with the chicken in the farm, and this may reduce poverty.
Speaker 2: (09:23)
Okay, Could you give, please provide more detail on this, the chicken farm and the poverty reduction?
Speaker 1: (09:33)
Because of the many people, many farmer in Thailand, they work on the chicken farm. They have a low technology in production of chicken. So, if we can develop methods from hourly service, this will improve the people, the farmer to work better in the farm. And it may not directly to reduce poverty. Just maybe increase the technology for the farmers, improve the technology from the farmers. So they can have more competition with the other farmers from foreign countries.
Speaker 1: (10:33)
Okay. Right. And why do you say, this is a different question. Why do you say that your project is likely to have an influence in environmental sustainability?
Speaker 3: (10:51)
Because at present people misuse antibiotics for chicken feet, and we can promote the farmer to use the bacterial feed that we are working with instead of antibiotics. I will improve the environment.
Speaker 1: (11:16)
Okay. Would you please provide more detail on this improving environment because you do not use antibiotics?
Speaker 3: (11:32)
If we use antibiotics, The environment will contaminate with the antibiotics.
Speaker 1: (11:41)
Okay. And people who are exposed to it may get affected from this polluted environment.
(11:50)
Okay, right. Moving on to the next question. Why do you say that your project is likely to have an influence in gender equality?
Speaker 3: (12:08)
Influence. Because our team, our research group of people does not select just only male or female, we select based on the quality, and equal to recruit staff in our team.
(12:30)
Okay. And? Could you please shed more light on this? When you talk about gender equality, it is just a recruit more men or more women?
Speaker 3: (12:51)
No, we do not select whether it is men or women.
Speaker 2: (12:59)
Okay, right. So, how is that going to have an influence in gender equality?
Speaker 3: (13:05)
Sorry.
Speaker 2: (13:09)
Yes. I was asking you, how is that going to affect in gender equality?
Speaker 3: (13:16)
Actually, the project that I am working on is not directly to promote gender-equal. We do the basic research and staff within this basic research team. We do not just include only male or female, so most gender are equal to task of the project, but the project is not directly to promote the gender equality.
Speaker 2: (13:58)
I see, because in the beginning when I asked you, is your project likely to have an influence in gender equality? You said, yes. So this is why this question. So should I go back and then put it as a no, then?
Speaker 2: (14:15)
Because you said, your project is not likely to have a gender equality, so which means it has no influence on it. We want to specifically know if your project has influence in gender equality. And now you are saying that your project is not going to have a direct effect, yeah are not going to direct effect. So should I go back and put the answer as no then?
(14:39)
Yes.
(14:40)
Okay. Just bear with me. Gender equality is no. All right. So, moving on then just a second. Right. So why do you say that your project is likely to have an influence in improved social development?
Speaker 2: (15:02)
It may be similar to the gender equality. There is no directly effect.
(15:09)
No influence?
(15:09)
Yes
(15:09)
Okay. So let us go back to the first question and let us just quickly get through that one more time then.
Speaker 1: (15:15)
So
Speaker 2: (15:21)
Improved social development is a no right? Okay.
Speaker 1: (15:28)
Okay. Next one, right. So, next question: are there any other areas that I have not mentioned, do you think that your project is likely to have an influence on in the future?
Speaker 2: (15:50)
Maybe they have equal knowledge because of the. It is a long term project that can increase the Sustainable research collaboration between UK and Thailand piece that may be one effect because from this project, after working with the UK scientists, then we have a very good collaboration. And in the future, the collaboration will continue and expand to other areas.
(16:33)
Okay right. Moving on then, we are interested in your opinion about the sustainability of benefits deriving from your project. So by sustainability, we refer to results that lasts beyond the lifetime of the project. So, on a scale of one to five, one being not sustainable, that is results will not last beyond the lifetime of the project, and five being sustainable. That is, results will last beyond the lifetime of the project. How sustainable do you think the results of your project is, or are likely to be on a scale of one to five?
Speaker 1: (17:22)
sorry, one to five? Do you mean, you would like me to?
Speaker 2: (17:33)
Give me a number between one and five. One is not sustainable. You can also use any number in between
Speaker 1: (17:43)
Four.
(17:45)
Four. Okay. Yes, why do you say that? Why do you give a rating of four when it comes to sustainability, which is a very high rating?
Speaker 3: (17:55)
Because this project will generate the knowledge for the product from the research. And more importantly, it can educate people to have PhD doing this project. We have generated one PhD student from this project, and this PhD student after graduation can generate more research and Academic work beyond the lifetime of the project.
(18:39)
Right. So, now we want to ask some questions based on your answers to online survey, focusing on benefits, realized through involvement in the newton UK Thailand research and innovation partnership fund. So, in the online survey, you indicated the partnership with Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund provided you or your team with positive added value in terms of access to complimentary materials, resources, facilities, and allowed for improved facilities to be purchased. Could you tell me what benefits you or your researchers had from complimented materials, resources, facilities, and or improved facilities?
Speaker 3: (19:33)
For the Newton fund, I think we do not get the facility directly from the Newton fund. It is not a major. The facility is based on our university, which we have a quite good facility at the [PI 00:19:33] hospital.
Speaker 2: (20:12)
In the online survey. You know, when you did the online survey, you indicated that the partnership with Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund provided you or your team with positive added value in terms of access to complimentary materials, resources, facilities, and allowed for improved facilities to be purchased. So, could you tell me what benefits you or your researchers had from it?
Speaker 3: (20:53)
I got funding from Newton fund more than one fund type of funding. I am not sure of the one you mentioned is which funding. There is one funding I received which has allowed staff from our group to travel to UK and Norway and the UK facility.
Speaker 2: (21:20)
Okay. Right. And we want to know what benefits you also had from it? You said it allowed you to travel you to the UK. Could you provide some more concrete examples of what else, other than just allowed you to travel? What other experience, what other beneficial things you gained from it?
Speaker 3: (21:49)
For example, I have PhD student who got scholarships from Thailand, but the scholarship is allowing students to work in the foreign country as a scientist in the lab for six months, but the Newton fund has topped up the scholarship for the students to stay longer in UK, allows students to gain more experience and more time to work in the lab.
Speaker 2: (22:32)
Okay. All right. And then what else of the results of the labs and everything?
Speaker 3: (22:43)
So the staff are able, my students are scientists who travelled to UK have a chance not only to use the modern facilities in UK but also the research idea and also some computer program or some meeting in UK that allows students to expand the research idea.
Speaker 2: (23:27)
Okay. Right. And next question, in the online survey, you provided the positive feedback, agreeing that collaborating with partners through the Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund improved, your skills has raised the quality of your work. Could you explain this in more detail?
(23:51)
Skill in the work?
(23:59)
let me repeat the question one more time. In the online survey, you provided positive feedback agreeing that collaborating with partners through the Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund improved your skills has raised the quality of your work. So could you explain this in more detail?
Speaker 3: (24:25)
Could you please repeat the last sentence again?
Speaker 1: (24:28)
Sure.
Speaker 2: (24:34)
One full sentence, but let me repeat it again. In the online survey
Speaker 3: (24:41)
At the meeting.
Speaker 2: (24:46)
Okay. Collaborating with partners through the Newton, UK talent research and innovation partnership fund improved your skills and has raised the quality of your work. You agreed to that you said, so now we want to know, could you please explain this in more detail?
Speaker 3: (25:07)
Yes. For the skill in the lab from working with the UK collaboration under the Newton fund began experience, for example, how to write a manuscript, what is the that is a skill and experience to write a manuscript for publication and because of under supervision and editing by the UK collaborator, then the quality of manuscript has been improved, and the manuscript is published in a high impact practice journal instead of local or the low factor journal.
Speaker 1: (25:57)
Okay. Right. Could you say this more in detail? Like how has this raised the quality of your work?
Speaker 3: (26:10)
For scientists? The quality of work can be measured by the number of your publication and impact of your work. So I think working with UK collaborators has improved our research quality, and sometime the UK collaborator can give some idea, generates some idea that help our research projects, or even some problems during working in the research, they can help to solve the problem.
(27:00)
Okay. Right. So do you have, this is a different question. Do you have the same impression with regards to your team, that newton UK Thailand research and innovation partnership fund improved your team’s skills and has also raised the quality of your team’s work?
Speaker 3: (27:28)
Yes.
Speaker 2: (27:29)
Yes. Can you please, can you explain why?
Speaker 3: (27:32)
Because when we work as our group sometime, the idea from research is not very broad and some facility is not. Even we have a food facility, but some specialized equipment, high technology equipment is not available in Thailand. So we sent our sample to the UK collaborator in order to analyze or perform the extra names in UK and send the data back to us. And then we work together to generate better quality of research. Otherwise, we cannot provide these results, for example, the sequencing, for example, E M an electron microscope analysis.
Speaker 2: (28:51)
Okay. Right. And in the online survey, you strongly agreed that you have been able to develop new relationships through the partners you are working with. Could you provide some more detail, for example, what the new relationships or connections you have been able to form?
Speaker 3: (29:13)
For example, I am interested on one research area, which my existing collaborator in UK, they do not have the experience, but they can introduce me to their colleague in the UK who has the experience that I need.
Speaker 2: (29:45)
Okay. And how did working with partners through Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund enable these relationships to be formed or connections to be established?
Speaker 1: (30:05)
Sorry. The question is?
Speaker 2: (30:13)
In the beginning, I asked you, could you provide some more detail, for example, what the new relationships or connections you have been able to form, and you told me, so now we want to know how working with partners through the Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund enable these relationships to be formed or connections to be established?
Speaker 3: (30:39)
They introduced me to the lab, another lab.
Speaker 2: (30:53)
Okay. Could you elaborate more on this? How did they introduce and what relationship you have with the new lab?
Speaker 3: (31:10)
For the expanse of the research, when we have collaborators in UK and as I mentioned before if we have a new idea or new research technique that we lack in Thailand. Something that we can request for help UK collaborates, and they do not have. They can introduce me to other UK collaborators. So it expands to the new collaborators, besides that, we have PhD students in the lab, and after graduation, they go to work in the university or some private sector. We connect the collaborations to assist the student graduate from the project.
Speaker 2: (32:30)
Okay. Right. And the next question is in the online survey. You said you definitely would be willing to collaborate with the Newton UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund partners. Again, in the future, could you provide more detail on why you definitely would be willing to do so?
Speaker 3: (32:56)
Because I think the support from Newton fund is a very good system. At the beginning after, let us say the funding, the Newton fund has organized a kickoff meeting to provide some information for the researchers and also Newton fund also provides to announce the new announcement or the opportunity of new funding information to the to me.
Speaker 2: (33:42)
Okay.
Speaker 3: (33:47)
How many questions left?
Speaker 2: (33:51)
There are some more, but I just want to ask you one more question regarding this. What benefits did you experience through the collaboration?
Speaker 3: (34:04)
What benefit from collaboration?
Speaker 2: (34:07)
Did you experience the collaboration?
(34:14)
Again, please?
(34:16)
What benefits did you experience through the collaboration?
Speaker 3: (34:26)
The benefit is the collaborator has helped me to write funding to write research proposal for submission of another client, the UK collaboraters has helped our students to train our students when you to allow them to gain more experience on more than technology.
Speaker 2: (35:07)
Okay. And are these different benefits to other partnerships you have been involved in?
Speaker 3: (35:18)
You mean at the funding?
Speaker 2: (35:21)
Are these different benefits to yes. These benefits that you just mentioned are these different benefits to other partnerships you have been involved in?
Speaker 3: (35:36)
Not very much different.
Speaker 2: (35:40)
Okay. All right. So next question. In the online survey, you strongly agreed that the Newton UK Thailand research and innovation partnership fund funding contributes to strengthening science and innovation systems or infrastructure in Thailand. Could you provide more detail on how the science and innovation systems or infrastructure were strengthened?
Speaker 3: (36:13)
The infrastructure, for me I am work in F Academy. So, the accurate date for academic staff is do the research and teaching for the research it requires funding to work. And also the equipment and money. The funding from Thailand alone or from our university alone is not enough to support the basic research because we are a developed country. So, the scholarship or funding from the Newton fund allows the research here in Thailand to work with, support on the technology or the, from UK collaborators those and for teaching purpose the research funds would become for research and review will` benefit to our teaching, to the students in Thailand, we teach graduate and undergraduate students. We share the knowledge that we gain from search or under the collaboration will improve our teaching as well.
Speaker 2: (38:00)
Right. So next question is, do you think Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund contributed to do strengthening research, science and innovation systems or infrastructure elsewhere that is outside Thailand?
Speaker 3: (38:22)
I think so because I saw that Newton fund also support the research in the South Asia, for example, Philippine, Indonesia, Malaysia, I think Philippines and I am not sure about Singapore, but definitely, Philippines and Malaysia is not fully Thailand.
Speaker 2: (39:05)
All right. So now we want to ask one last question about how your view of UK research and innovation has changed as a result of participation in the Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund in the online survey. You said your view of UK research and innovation definitely improved as a result of participation in the Newton, UK, Thailand research and innovation partnership fund funded research. So could you please provide more detail on your answer and why you would say this?
Speaker 3: (39:48)
It is correct from what I have said before that the Newton fund has improved the quality of the academic staff either on the research or the teaching capability and also help to generate or educate the student at the PhD degree levels to study abroad, to gain experience and return to Thailand to expand. Yes.
Speaker 2: (40:38)
Okay. Would like to add something more to this or that is all your answer?
Speaker 3: (40:45)
No.
(40:46)
No. Okay. All right.Thank you so much for your time today. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about regarding your involvement in the Newton UK talent research and innovation partnership fund?
Speaker 3: (41:04)
I see I would like this UK Newton fund scholarship to be continued. And because I think it is very useful for the researchers in Thailand because sometime it may not just fund it funded by Newton fund. It also has core funding scholarship that the Thai government also allocate some budget with the Newton fund. I support the continuing of this scheme. Yes
Speaker 2: (42:01)
All right. So, thank you so much for taking the time to participate in this study. Now, before we finish, I need to ensure that you can get the privacy notice online. This explains the purposes for processing your personal data, as well as your rights under data protection regulations, to access your personal data, withdrawal consent object to processing of your personal data and other required information. So thank you so much [PI00:42:01] Have a great day for rest of the week. Thank you very much. Okay, bye.
Speaker 3: (42:37)
Thank you. Bye-bye.