Purpose

To provide an opportunity for recognition of outstanding student contributions to the Annual Meeting.

Criteria

Quality of presentation and quality of the underlying research. Was the presentation visually and aurally interesting and compelling? Was the research well motivated and convincingly carried out? The assessment should combine the research summary (see procedures) and the presentation.

Eligibility

Any student presenting a contributed paper at the Annual Meeting, who has not defended his or her thesis by December 31 prior to the time of submission of the abstract, is eligible for the award. Presentations based on joint work with a senior colleague such as a supervisor are eligible, as long as the student presents the work. Presentations joint between two or more students are eligible. Past winners are not eligible.

Procedures

The award will be advertised in Liaison and on the SSC website at the same time that the first announcement for the Annual Meeting appears. The abstract submission form will include instructions for students to indicate their interest in being considered. Prior to a deadline specified by the Committee, students wishing to be considered for the award must submit a short summary of their research, no longer than 4 pages. The directions for this will be prominent in the advertisement for the award. Subsequent meeting announcements will include an announcement of the award and the requirement to send a summary, and information on where the summary should be sent. The SSC values and encourages Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in all of its nominations and awards. Please see the SSC guidelines on implicit bias (pdf). 

Award

A certificate and a cash or cash-equivalent prize.