TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Publicly-listed pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma and PT Tempo Inti Media organize the 2018 Kalbe Junior Scientist Award (KJSA)—a science competition for elementary students.

Kalbe Farma president commissioner Irawati Setiady said the competition was aimed at nurturing the students' passion and love towards research and science.

"Because in the future, Indonesia needs good results of research to help it become a developed nation," she said at the Djuanda building, the Finance Ministry, Central Jakarta, on Friday, September 14.

PT Tempo Inti Media CEO Toriq Hadad, meanwhile, said the program would motivate the students to make achievements. "We support the Kalbe Junior Science Award because it can motivate the children to keep on making achievements. This nation needs all elements of the society to make it better," he said.

The 2018 Kalbe Junior Scientist Award is a nationwide primary school-level scientific competition that has been held by the pharmaceutical company since 2011. It focuses on scientific research and experiments in the fields of practical technology, mathematics and integrated sciences.

This year, the 2018 Kalbe Junior Scientist Award received 1,306 pieces of scientific research from 26 provinces across Indonesia. The panel of judges has selected 20 finalists that mostly worked on research in applied sciences.

DIAS PRASONGKO