DABEST has long served as a platform for students in higher education institutions to present multidisciplinary knowledge, ideas, and innovations that respond to the needs, trends, and issues of the 21st century. The Congress offers young researchers across the country the opportunity to represent their academic institutions and bring fresh perspectives to their respective fields. It positions students within the circle of critical inquiry, research, and knowledge generation – spaces often reserved for academics and professionals. In doing so, DABEST recognizes the potential and value of students in contributing to the understanding and resolution of pressing social and ecological challenges.

This role of students is central to the theme of the 4th National DABEST Students Research and Development Congress (DABEST 2025): Research for Resilience: Young Minds Shaping Sustainable Futures. Given the urgent challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and other emerging issues, responsibility for addressing these problems cannot rest exclusively on academics and established researchers. Students, too, possess promising ideas that deserve dissemination and engagement with industry, the academe, and government. Through this Congress, DABEST provides space for such contributions, advancing the collective pursuit of a healthier, safer, and more sustainable future.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action

This strand invites submissions that address climate change and other natural or human-driven phenomena affecting both natural and social systems, including the species within them. It particularly welcomes research that advances ideas and practices in mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from the potential and actual impacts of contemporary disasters, with special emphasis on the challenges due to climate change.

Arts, Humanities, and Society

This strand invites submissions that explore cultural, artistic, and creative expressions, as well as research that examines human experiences, practices, and social realities. It serves as a venue for reflecting on the symbolic, interpretive, and structural dimensions of social life and encourages critical and imaginative approaches that enrich our understanding of individuals, communities, and societies.

Business, Economics, and Development

This strand invites submissions that examine the impact of economic institutions, market policies, and dynamics on national growth, development, and the quality of life of communities. It further seeks analyses of mechanisms and inter-institutional relationships that influence the creation, distribution, and delivery of economic goods and services.

Engineering, Technology, and Innovations

This strand invites submissions that highlight cutting-edge technologies and innovations across diverse fields, including but not limited to engineering, computer science, and information technology. It particularly encourages research on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies with significant implications for the digital age and contemporary society.

Science and the Natural Systems

This strand invites submissions rooted in the natural sciences, focusing on the physical, biological, and environmental systems that shape and sustain life and the natural world. It supports empirical, experimental, and analytical investigations that deepen scientific understanding and address emerging issues across diverse scientific domains.

Teacher Education and Pedagogy

This strand invites submissions that explore practices, issues, and developments in education and learning across both basic and higher education. It also welcomes research that examines the implications of contemporary social and technological transformations in the 21st century for classroom instruction and the working conditions of teachers, as well as studies that reimagine and anticipate the future of education.