By Mikaela Mharis E. Tulalian and Chandler Lee T. Dela Cruz
Get ready for an exciting comeback: Gawad Alunig x Dalumat Returns this November with more amazing and thrilling prizes!
November is just around the corner, and with it comes an electrifying opportunity for aspiring journalists and science enthusiasts! The Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) is thrilled to announce the launch of the third season of the highly acclaimed Gawad Alunig x Dalumat: Empowering Science Stories through Citizen Journalism.
Building on the momentum of previous years, this season aims to further the Department of Science and Technology- Technology Application and Promotion Institute’s (DOST- TAPI) mission of fostering innovation and technology promotion across the nation. Gawad Alunig x Dalumat provides a remarkable platform for individuals to showcase their storytelling talents while contributing to the greater good by highlighting the transformative impact of science and technology in our communities.
From a Newscast Segment to a National Competition
Bethink from the first and special year of Gawad Alunig x Dalumat— the launching in the year 2022. It became part of the special segment of the Kalipunan Newscast and made the contest open nationwide. In that same year, the theme highlighted science communication and advocated a culture of inventiveness and ingenuity by featuring stories from the ground as communicated by citizen journalists.
Its first year was a success, which shed light on an opportunity to conduct the second edition of Gawad Alunig x Dalumat in 2023. In its second year, DOST-TAPI once again called all talented participants to share their interesting science stories with the theme revolving around the 2023 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibit (by Cluster) or ClusteRICE.
Now on its third back-to-back accomplishment, DOST TAPI ensures its commitment in promoting the technologies while helping the innovators and entrepreneurial landscapes. This year's theme revolves around promoting technologies that mainly focus on Tech-Trans, small businesses, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
This will help to encourage citizens to promote the importance of technologies while raising awareness about the DOST-TAPI venture financing programs.
In line with this, it will make the journalistic standards better in communicating science and technology– which make more citizens involved and aware of the issues that are very relevant to nation-building, which is why it makes this season more exciting and something that you can look forward to—especially the inventors, communicators, researchers, journalists, and entrepreneurs.
About Gawad Alunig x Dalumat
The Gawad Alunig is mainly focused on delivering the real world of science through newscasting. The content may be introducing businesses with the help of technologies or how the technologies help their products to innovate and grow. Also, it can be how promoting technologies will be accessible and improved.
The Gawad Dalumat is all about the publication of science stories through magazines, online or printed newspapers, and technology stories with proof of publication.
Participants can look forward to an array of exciting and invaluable prizes, encouraging them to tap their innate creativity and commitment to science journalism. All Filipino inventors, communicators, researchers, journalists, and entrepreneurs are encouraged to join Gawad Alunig x Dalumat wherever you are in the country for as long as you are fifteen (15) years to thirty (30) years old. By joining this competition, you have a chance to win exciting prizes.
For the Gawad Alunig, there are four (4) awards that you can win:
- One (1) winner for Gawad Alunig: Best KALIPUNAN Science Correspondent with ₱50,000;
- One (1) Gawad Alunig 1st Runner up with ₱20,000;
- Three (3) KALIPUNAN Science Correspondent Runners-up with ₱10,000 each winner and;
- One (1) Gawad Alunig: People’s Choice Award with ₱10,000.
In Gawad Dalumat, there are six (6) awards that you can win;
- One (1) winner for the Gawad Dalumat: Best Science School Publication with ₱50,000;
- Two (2) winners for Gawad Dalumat Runner-ups with ₱10,000 each;
- Three (3) Gawad Dalumat: Top Science Stories ₱10,000 for each participant.
All the inventors and innovators who will be mentioned in the stories will have a chance to be beneficiaries of the other programs of assistance of DOST-TAPI for Filipino inventors and innovators.
As Atty. Marion Ivy Decena stated “This year's season is very unique and exciting because it is just like hitting two birds with one stone where we can help aspiring inventors, communicators, researchers, journalists, and entrepreneurs to introduce them to the world— to introduce their products and services that they are offering most, especially the MSMEs. By this, it helps to promote the importance of technologies that can help to innovate and enhance to create progress and changes to the world”
Join us in celebrating the return of Gawad Alunig x Dalumat, where the fusion of science and citizen journalism empowers voices and fosters an informed society. Stay tuned for more details on how to participate and be part of this remarkable journey.
The deadline for the submission of the entries will be on September 30, 2024, at 11:59 pm Philippine Time.
You can submit your Gawad Alunig entries at https://tinyurl.com/mw2n6nkd and your entries for Gawad Dalumat at https://tinyurl.com/4ydhmrzh.
You may also visit and follow the i-INVENT Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/iINVENTPH/ and the official Facebook page DOST-TAPI at https://www.facebook.com/DOST.TAPI/ for more information and updates about the Gawad Alunig x Dalumat Season 3.
