On the Guidelines & Themes of the 2025 J.U.C. Media / Digital Art, Research, and Innovation Awards #JUCAWARDS2025 | #JUCMRWA2025 } #JUCAwards2025

An Interview with Bircan ÜNVER
Conducted by Duru BÜYÜKBAŞARAN, Student Coordinator of the 2025 J.U.C. Awards; and 2023 Writing Category / #Türkiye100 First Place Winner
Based on the PowerPoint Presentation and Guidelines of the 2025 J.U.C. Awards

Left: Duru Büyükbaşaran | Right: Bircan Ünver

The 2025 J.U.C. Awards dedicated to:
“THE WATER CYCLE AND THE LIFE CYCLE ARE ONE” #WaterActionDecade
All the above-referred four main categories are dedicated to the Water Action Decade (2018-2028).
In support of the Water Action Decade and Sustainable Development Goal#6.
(Please see “Suggested Themes” under Section#9)

The Summary of the Informative Session

[LMGlobal.Org The below interview with Bircan* Ünver on the Guidelines & Themes of the 2025 J.U.C. Media / Digital Art, Research, and Innovation Awards was conducted by
Duru Büyükbaşaran at the 2025 J.U.C. Awards Informative & Interactive Session (virtual) on June 21, 2024.
(This interview has been modified and may be expanded in some sections of it for the below web posting purpose.)
[*] BirJon for pronunciation.

An Informative and Interactive Session on the 2025 J.U.C. Awards was virtually presented on June 21, 2024, followed by the below interview, particularly on the Guidelines and the Dedication Theme. The below interview with Bircan clarifies the categories, definition of the awards, suggested themes, important points, and deadlines for prospective high school applicants.

Duru Büyükbaşaran (D.B.): 
Is it possible for applicants to participate in and receive awards from multiple categories? 
Bircan Ünver (B.Ü): I won’t suggest it. Interested students should choose the category that is closest to his/her interest areas, then focus on it and submit it to that category before the deadline. Otherwise, it won’t be fair if one student receives two monetary awards in two different categories. It is important to award different students for each category. In case, we receive two submissions by the same student, then we will only consider the one that was received as the first, and the second one won’t be considered for evaluation.

D.B.: What is the description of the Media and Digital Art categories? 

B.Ü. The requirements for the ‘Media and Digital Arts’ categories stress the need for high-quality, conceptual video or audio-visual media related to water, and water-inspired creative projects.
A media project may consist of moving images/animation/narration/music/interview/graphics/text etc. Its duration might be from 3 to up to 7 min. Media projects should be recorded in horizontal and in .mp4 format.

For Digital Art, this category requires one to submit seven (7) pieces that might be series or independent from each other but all water theme-related digital arts that could be as in photography, photo-colleagues or drawings or illustrations, etc., with 300 pix. and this is too, preferably horizontal format toward their postings and potential incorporation with the outcome of the 2025 Award Ceremony’s showcase.
In all cases, submissions should be sent via email to JUCAwards(a)lightmillennium.org; and in case, of large-size video files or digital art images, those can be sent in via wetransfer.com to the above e-address or via Google Drive to > lmglobalhumanadvancement(at)gmail.com.

D.B.: What does the new “innovation” category entail?
B.Ü. In comparison with the Research Category, the Innovation project technically and scientifically should have a quality towards a solution along with the minimum required technical parameters and medium as a miniature model or drawing/graphic(s) or in the descriptive video along with its technical details and usage purpose, need, and concept to be sent as a project model that one can see and visualize it that may provide a solution to the selected theme via it.
The significance of science, technology, and research in innovation in connection with water issues, to engage the students in such projects based on their own selected local, national, or global related issues, and citing references as crucial along with the originality of the submission.

D.B.: What is one critical value that judges look for in Water Action Decades submissions?
B.Ü.: In 2023, the Evaluation Committee used an Evaluation Rubric with six sub-criteria that may be used for 2025, which has to be determined by the 2025 Evaluation Committee. 


The Evaluation Committee members will review the submissions after the deadline and once all eligible submissions are posted with an application code to the website. In all cases, the originality of the submission, a clear commitment to the water action, along a complete submission including word count requirement, bio+photo (not older than 6 months), and Consent Form are essential components for an eligible submission. Please see for the details in the GUIDELINES/Section-VII

D.B.: 
What are the requirements to be featured in the 2025 Awards-related book? 
B.Ü. As in the majority, overall excellence, first and second-place winners’ submissions will be the core section of the project on the Water Action-related themes. There also will be included introduction for each section by a member of the Evaluation Committee, along with an overall summary of the 2025 J.U.C. Awards Ceremony. However, depending on the quality and quantity of the submissions there may be one or two special awards, also depending on the quality and originality, along with the the total page of the book (140 pages, or 200 pages or more that will be determined based on the available budget for the book project, which also may determine whether third place winners may be included or not! In any case, I can project that some of the third-place winners may be considered to be included in the outcome of the 2025 J.U.C. Awards book project.

D.B: How will the distribution of the monetary awards be, especially to underage winners? 
B.Ü. Especially if the students are underage (below 18), their award amount will be transferred only to one of the first degree-designated family members which also should be indicated in the Consent Form, but not to transfer the award to the student through an organization, in case, the submission came in through an organization.
Whether the winner is below 18 years old or, the complete full-bank information that is required from Chase Bank/Global Transfer MUST be filled in and sent it back. With a piece of missing information, the transfer may be delayed to 4 to 8 weeks until it is completed. On the other hand, following the Award Ceremony, once the full and completed bank information is received of the student or first-degree family member or in some cases, legal guardian, accordingly, the transfer will be done within a week to two weeks. 

D.B.: How will the evaluation process change concerning digital plagiarism and AI writing tools?

B.Ü.: We applied a plagiarism check to each submission both in 2021 and 2023. The ones who came up with a high/unacceptable percentage of plagiarism and/or did not send in the Consent Form and if the required minimum amounts of the words did not match with a received submission, then were not eligible and did not present to the Evaluation Committee either to post those to the web site. 
In addition to the plagiarism check, this year, the Evaluation Committee will also seek a tool/program to apply if the submission is original or created through an AI program, which will determine whether the submission is eligible or not to be evaluated.

Further, the 2025 Evaluation Process will be in two stages:

a) The first, semi-finalist will be selected by the majority of the Committee Members;

b) Each finalist, or each category semi-finalist will be scheduled for a pre-online interview that will eventually determine all the final winners once the committee briefly meets and interviews them based on their submission 

D.B. Lastly, do you have any recommendations or tips for future participants?
B.Ü. I would like to strongly encourage the students to use this summer to focus on the water concept, especially, when we need more water and in more water-related activities. And, please share this with your friends who may not be aware of it. Further, I would like to encourage you if the submission comes in through a Participating School, then please contact your school’s Student Advisor Councilor; or Student Coordinator for your country, or if the submission comes through a contributing organization, then please contact with that organization. If none of these are available or if it is an individual/independent student submission, then please contact me through JUCAwards(at)lightmillennium.org e-address.

There was also a question by Hashim Yussif, an attendee. He asked what the J.U.C. acronym stands for.

Bircan: This project was designed bi-annually for high school students in Memory of my beloved son, John Unver Culkin, who suddenly departed two weeks before his 23rd birthday in December 2019.

 This idea came to mind when I was urgently returning to New York from India on a plane. At the time, I had received the most unfortunate and shocking news for a mother, which has been the longest, darkest, and most difficult flight of my life.
That initial idea, which later on turned out the J.U.C. Awards project has been helping me to hold on to life, along with, helping me to expand my love on the global level for students/youth through this project. Otherwise, I may never have known them. [2021 & 2023 J.U.C. Awards and the #HopeNeverFades book are the proof of it.)

_ . _

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: OCTOBER 31, 2024
Via email to: JUCAwards(at)LIGHTMILLENNIUM.Org or JUCAwards(at)LMGlobal.Org

Water Action Decade, 2018-2028: Averting a global water crisis
40 percent shortfall in freshwater resources by 2030 coupled with a burgeoning world
population—according to current estimates—has the world careening towards a global
water crisis. Recognizing the growing challenge, the UN General Assembly launched the
Water Action Decade—officially the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable
Development”—on 22 March 2018, to mobilize action that will help transform how we
manage water.
Source: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-action-decade/

The Summary of the Session

Bircan Ünver’s PowerPoint Presentation based on the Guidelines of the 2025 J.U.C. Awards