Call for nominations for the 2025 Ateneo Service-Learning Conference (ASLC) and Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND) awards

The Ateneo Senior High School and Higher Education Community – College and Graduate (Masters/Doctoral) – are invited to submit nominations for the 2025 Ateneo Service-Learning Conference (ASLC) and Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND) Awards.

The ASLC brings together the 2025 ASCEND Awards finalists to showcase their innovative projects and research, fostering collaboration and best-practice sharing for sustainable development in the Philippines. On the other hand, the 2025 ASCEND Awards recognize from the pool of finalists the outstanding students from Ateneo Senior High School and Higher Education whose projects and research work demonstrate academic excellence and critical thinking while actively engaging communities beyond Ateneo to contribute to national development.

• Projects are implemented development initiatives designed to address specific social, political, economic, cultural, or environmental challenges. They produce observable and measurable impact by delivering direct benefits to communities or groups of people, with success assessed based on measurable improvements in people's lives.

• Research encompasses systematic studies, including basic, applied, and community-engaged research, that generate knowledge and propose solutions with long-term impact. These studies often influence policies, improve programs, or directly engage communities in the research process.

All nominated works must have been completed through onsite and/or online engagements with partner communities and/or organizations.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify, projects and research work outputs (including research papers, theses, or dissertations) must:

• Involve community engagement and address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and nation-building concerns.

• Be completed as part of a credit-bearing course between January 2024 and May 2025. However, projects or research outputs completed between January and May 2024 that were previously nominated for 2024 ASCEND are no longer eligible for nomination. Nominators must also ensure that students who led projects or research completed between January 2024 and May 2025 are available for interviews in May and can attend the awarding ceremony in June/July, should they be selected as finalists.

Two new documents, the (1) Guidelines and the (2) Nomination Form, may be downloaded through this link: http://go.ateneo.edu/2025-ASCEND-Forms.

The second document will be used by all senior high school and higher education faculty members who wish to nominate students' projects and/or research work outputs. Each faculty member may nominate up to a total of four (4) project and/or research work outputs.

All duly accomplished nomination forms must be sent by email to servicelearning@ateneo.edu. The deadline for online nomination submission is Friday, 25 April 2025. 

ASCEND conference presenters and awardees will be announced and recognized during the Conference and Awards proper, which will be held in June/July 2025 (the specific date will be posted in another announcement).

For any questions or concerns, please email the 2025 ASCEND Conference and Awards Committee at servicelearning@ateneo.edu. 

Thank you.