The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) is now accepting nominations for the S&T Innovations in Agri-Aqua (SINAG) Awards. Nomination will be accepted until May 31, 2023.
The SINAG Award will recognize efforts of an individual, group of individuals, or organization that are instrumental in the successful adoption and commercialization of a component technology or package of technologies.
It will recognize three entities involved in the commercialization of technology such as the innovator, commercialization facilitator or enabler, and the adopter or entity that successfully commercialized a technology.
Innovator - This category aims to recognize the merit of the technology being commercialized. The award will be given jointly to the original technology owner and the inventor or author. The original owner of the technology refers to the research and development institute (RDI) or state university and college (SUC) that implemented the research, which generated the technology. As stipulated in the amended IRR of the RA No. 10055 or the Technology Transfer Act, “The ownership of IP and IPRs derived and generated from research funded by the Government Funding Agency (GFA), whether such funding is in whole or in part, shall, in general, be vested in the RDI/SUC that actually performed the research.” On the other hand, the inventor or author refers to the natural person. This may be the project leader or project team who has created the works. The owner and the inventor or author of the technology will have one or a shared award but will have separate cash awards at a 60:40 ratio.
Facilitator/Enabler -This category aims to recognize the contribution of the facilitator/s or enabler/s based on the merits of how the technology was moved from research up to the commercialization stage. This will be given to the Intellectual Property and Technology Business Management Offices (IP-TBMOs), Agri-Aqua Technology Business Incubators (ATBIs), or any group facilitating/enabling commercialization of technologies (not limited to PCAARRD/DOST-assisted). “Enabler or Start-up Enabler” refers to any person or registered entity in the Philippines registered under the Philippine Start-up Development Program that provides goods, services, or capital identified to be critical in supporting the operation and growth of start-ups by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in consultation with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and pertinent government and non-government organizations (NGOs). Start-up enablers shall include start-up accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, investors, funders, event or meet-up organizers catered to start-ups, and other support organizations (IRR of RA No. 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act).
Adopter - This category aims to recognize the entity that successfully commercialized a technology. The award will be given to a private company, startup, or spinoff that commercialized a licensed technology and has secured a stable operation and market of products produced using the technology.
Awardees in each category will receive a plaque of recognition, cash prizes of up to P300,000, and a one-year proposal-based technology commercialization grant of P1,000,000 for the facilitator or enabler, P2,000,000 for the innovator, and P3,000,000 for the adopter, respectively.
Nominations should be submitted to DOST-PCAARRD accompanied by the following documents:
- Nomination Letter. Nominations shall be endorsed by the head/authorized representative of an agency/organization and the regional consortium director or DOST regional director; and
- Filled out nomination form, which can be downloaded from the DOST-PCAARRD website. Guidelines and forms can be downloaded from https://pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/index.php/awards.
