Every year, the Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institute (DoST-SEI) recognizes outstanding young Filipino minds through the Youth Excellence in Science (YES) Awards.

YES medals promotes excellence in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and serves as the awardees’ badge of honor for being their generation’s emerging STEM leaders and advocates.

For over 17 years, SEI’s aspiration has been clear: to build generations of learners who will champion the pursuit of scientific excellence in the country. This is exactly what the YES medals stand for: a symbol of inspiration to achieve the Filipino youth’s great potential and dreams.

DoST-SEI director Jayeel S. Cornelio delivered an inspiring message to the YES medalists during the awarding ceremony at the 2024 National Science and Technology Week celebration in Northern Mindanao.

“Through this event, we hope to build the next generation of scientists who are committed to the welfare of the nation... While you are winning medals around the world, remember to serve this nation to show the world that the Philippines can be great again,” Cornelio said.

He also emphasized putting value in virtue and moral excellence. For him, intelligence is useless if not used beyond one’s gain and self-recognition, but is more meaningful if used to make a difference.

Expanding Community

In 2024, a record 2,504 young Filipino geniuses from various regions in the country were conferred the YES medals. This marks an impressive 18.45 percent increase from 2023’s record of 2,115 awardees. This is only the second time that there were more than 2,000 YES recipients since the recognition began in 2007.

It was also the first time the DoST-SEI hosted three successive awarding ceremonies to recognize and celebrate the Filipino youth’s great feat in the international STEM scene. The ceremonies were conducted in Tacloban (Region VIII), Benguet (Region II), and Cagayan de Oro (Region X) in June, August and November 2024, respectively.

Joining the celebration were the awardees’ parents and guardians, members of the science community, the academe and the Institute’s valued partners to local STEM competitions.

The regional distribution of the 2024 YES Awards are as follows: National Capital Region — 922; CALABARZON — 297; Central Luzon — 174; Bicol Region — 158 ; Central Visayas — 158; Ilocos Region — 123; Western Visayas — 112; Northern Mindanao — 92; Davao Region — 87; MIMAROPA — 71; Cagayan Valley — 70; Zamboanga Peninsula — 52; Eastern Visayas — 51; Cordillera Administrative Region — 49; CARAGA — 44; and SOCCSKSARGEN — 44.