The Scientific Career System (SCS) is a system of recruitment, career progression, and recognition that awards scientists rank to qualified research personnel in the government service as a means of developing a pool of highly qualified and productive scientific personnel.
The SCS was established within the civil service through Section 19 of Executive Order No. 784 “Reorganizing the National Science Development Board and its Agencies into a National Science and Technology Authority and for Related Purposes” on 17 March 1982. It was formally organized on 19 July 1983 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 901 “Prescribing Rules and Regulations to Implement the Scientific Career System initially in the National Science and Technology Authority”. The establishment of the SCS was further reinforced by Section 04 of Republic Act No. 8439 entitled “An Act Providing a Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, Researchers, and other Science and Technology Personnel in the Government”. Its grant of compensation related benefits was further reinforced in 2013 by Joint DBM and DOST Circular No. 1. In 2019, R.A. No. 8439 was amended through R.A. No. 11312 that strengthened the SCS. In February 2023, Executive Order No. 17, “Revising the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Scientific Career System under Executive Order No. 901 (s. 1983)” was signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Jr.
The SCS is headed by the Scientific Career Council (SCC), which is co-chaired by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and decides for all matters pertaining to SCS. The SCS program is now administered by the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST PHL).