GRANTS
The Loretta Makasiar Sicat Prize
for the Social Sciences
The Loretta Makasiar Sicat Prize for the Social Sciences (LMS Prize) seeks to promote the social sciences and honor the legacy and contribution of Dr. Loretta Makasiar Sicat for making the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC) the leading institution in the promotion of the social sciences and one of the country’s longest-running and financially viable non-profit organizations.
The LMS Prize is an attractive and sufficiently rewarding monetary award for excellence in research in social science by Filipino graduate students. The LMS Prize awards a cash prize of US$5,500.00 for the chosen best thesis or dissertation.
To be eligible for the LMS Prize award, a nominee must have graduated from a Philippine college or university and completed the MA thesis or Ph.D. dissertation on the social sciences in the last two academic years of the award year. Once an MA thesis or Ph.D. dissertation has been submitted, it cannot be submitted for the next call for nomination.
Who is LORETTA MAKASIAR SICAT?
Dr. Loretta Makasiar Sicat served as the PSSC Executive Director from 1977 to 1984. Before she became the Executive Director, she was a member of the Executive Board from 1973 until 1976 when she was elected as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Sicat was instrumental in making PSSC have its own building — the Philippine Social Science Center.
The LMS Prize for best thesis or dissertation
PSSC will select three finalists from the submitted theses and dissertations. But only one will be awarded as the BEST THESIS or DISSERTATION.
- The top prize winner (Best Thesis/Dissertation) will receive a US$ 5,500.00 cash prize to be given in two tranches:
- US$ 3,500.00 upon conferment of the award, and
- US$ 2,000.00 after the thesis or dissertation has been converted into an article version and officially published,* locally or internationally, within 12 months after receiving the award.
- The second prize will receive US$ 1000.00 cash prize.
- The second prize will receive US$ 500.00 cash prize.
* Recognizing that actual publication could often take more extended periods, the top prize winner may submit evidence of acceptance for publication by the official Editor/ Publisher of the article for purposes of the final release of the award.
- PSSC will launch a Call for Nominations for the LMS Prize in October.
- College deans, department chairs, or the head of the equivalent academic units may nominate only one social science thesis or dissertation from their respective unit to the LMS Prize. The social science thesis or dissertation must fall within the 13 disciplinal member-organizations of PSSC. Best Graduate Thesis and Best Dissertation awardees during AY 2023-2024 and AY 2024-2025 graduation ceremonies would be the most ideal applicants for this award.
- The nominator must accomplish the following documents and submit these by clicking the “Submit your nomination here” button below:
- LMS Prize Nominee’s Information Sheet (click to download);
- LMS Prize Nomination Form (click to download);
- Three-page CV of the nominee; and
- A seven-page extended abstract* of the MA thesis or Ph.D. dissertation.
- Deadline for submission of documents is 30 OCTOBER.
* Must contain the background rationale, research problem, theoretical framework, literature review, methodology, major findings, conclusion, implications, and recommendations. Please use A4 size paper. For the font style please use Times New Roman, size 12, double-spacing.
- A nominated abstract undergoes a double-blind review by recognized social sciences scholars.
- Each reviewer will score/rate the nominated abstract based on a set of criteria. Then, the average ratings/scores of the two reviewers will be computed.
- The nominated abstracts will be ranked, and the top five will move on to the next round – full thesis or dissertation review by a Board of Judges.
- PSSC will inform the top five semifinalists’ nominators about the result of the initial review. Then, the nominators will submit an electronic copy, and three (3) printed copies of the full version of the MA thesis or Ph.D. dissertation to PSSC.
- PSSC will constitute a three-member Board of Judges to read and judge the five semifinalists’ theses or dissertations. The composition of the Board of Judges will depend upon the related disciplines of the five semifinalists.
- The Board of Judges will select the top three winners based on the following criteria:
a. Relevance and Practicability of the Research (50%)
b. Concept and Content (35%)
c. Overall Presentation (15%) - The announcement of winners and awarding ceremony will be in APRIL 2026.
- The LMS Prize winner must deliver a scientific lecture on the winning thesis or dissertation during the awarding ceremonies organized by PSSC.
- The LMS Prize winner will organize a presentation or roundtable discussion among relevant institutions, policymakers, and a wider audience,conducted independently of the PSSC audience. For instance if the topic is on education, audience should include DepEd or CHED; if on children, all institutions that advocate children’ s rights should be part of the audience (UNICEF, Save the Children, etc)
- The winner must write a short article based on the winning piece to be featured on the PSSC publications, website and newsletter.
- Once published, the winner must provide PSSC with five copies of the article’s publication journal.
- The winner must acknowledge the LMS Prize in the journal article and other venues.
Past Winners
Sanny Boy Afable
MA Demography
University of the Philippines
"Demographic Correlates of Late-Life Depression in the Philippines: Exploring Gender Differences"
Timothy James Cipriano
MS Geography
University of the Philippines
"The Right to the City in Disaster Risk Reduction""
Denise Hyacinth Joy B. Musni
MA Demography
University of the Philippines
"MIND THE GAP: An Analysis of the Discontinuity Between Antenatal Care and Facility-Based Delivery Among Filipino Mothers"
Emmanuel Jayson V. Bolata
MA History
University of the Philippines
"Filipino Reception and Appropriation of Modern Astronomical Knowledge 1859 – 1958"
