Outstanding Student Achievement Award
Sponsored by Harte Research Institute and the Caribbean Marine Fisheries Council
Student Eligibility
- Must be a registered student, or have graduated within the past 12 months. If a recent graduate, the presentation must be on thesis/dissertation research. We will verify by contacting studentâs major professor.
- Must be first author on the presentation and extended abstract
- We will not consider applications for the award if students are presenting work previously published. However, if they are presenting new data that integrates with previously published work, they are eligible to compete for the award
- Must submit either an extended abstract (or a full manuscript) based on the oral/poster presentation to the Student Awards Committee Chair ([email protected]). This is a requirement for both oral and poster presenters. Deadline is Sunday 3 November 2024.
- Must fill out the Abstract Submission Form (click here to submit) in the GCFI web page where there is a check box the student has to activate if she/he wishes to be considered for the award. Upon submission of the form, the abstract will be forwarded to the Student Awards Committee as well as the Program Committee. If a student does not indicate their desire to compete their presentation will not be evaluated. Students may withdraw their presentation from consideration for the award up until 8AM on Monday 4 November, 2024 the first day of the conference.
- Student winners from the previous year are not eligible to compete during the current year. (ie, a student cannot win the award two years in a row, but they could win an award twice, as long as it is not in consecutive years).
- Students must be GCFI members in good standing to be eligible for the award. If not a current member, please join at https://www.gcfi.org/become-a-member/
Judging Criteria
- Criteria will follow approved oral/poster judging forms (see criteria below).
- The maximum score a student can receive is 50
- There will be a minimum of 3 judges for each presentation (oral or poster); at least 1 judge in each group must be bilingual. All poster judges will be bilingual.
- Oral and poster presentations will have separate teams of judges.
- A major professor may not evaluate his/her own undergraduate or graduate student.
- A judge may not evaluate a student if they serve on his/her thesis committee.
Criteria for Determining Awards
- Awards will be given for 1 oral presentation and 1 poster presentation annually. Both oral and poster presentations are considered to be equal, but are judged separately for a more equal comparison among competitors. If there are 4 or less entries in either category, oral and poster presentations will be judged together and 2 awards will be given, regardless of type of presentation.
- Winners will be determined based on the highest mean score in each category (oral or poster) after the final student presentation, and the awards will be presented during an awards ceremony at the end of the meeting. Winners will receive a certificate of award at the meeting.
- In the event of a tie, the score with the smallest standard deviation will win.
- When the first call for abstracts goes out the following year, the award winners from the previous year will be contacted to make arrangements to attend the meeting. The winners must let the committee know within 1 month of contact if they will be able to attend the meeting. Winners are responsible for dealing with potential visa requirements to attend the meeting in a foreign country such that they have the appropriate visa prior to receiving travel funds to the meeting.
- The award cannot be transferred by the winner to another person.
- If an award winner cannot attend the meeting the next year, the award will be offered to the next highest student in that category, providing their score is no more than 5 points lower than the original winnerâs score. (This represents a 10% deviation in potential score, and limits giving the award to a student who had a low score, even if they were next on the list. i.e, the award is only given to the âBestâ candidate).
Record Keeping
- At the meeting, each judgeâs score for each student will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet.
- Any notes, comments, special circumstances will also be noted on the spreadsheet.
- The results for each year will be archived with the Chair of the judging committee and the Chairman of the GCFIâa CD containing all information will be burned at the meeting.
- The names of the award winners and the titles of their presentations will be posted on the GCFI web page.
Criteria for dealing with âunused awardsâ
- Each award can only be reoffered once.
- In the event 2 award winners cannot attend the current meeting, we propose these options:
- Return the money to the agency
- Pending approval by the agency, give 2 travel awards of $750 each to the current meeting. Criteria for determining these âextraâ travel awards will be identical to criteria outlined in the âtravel awardsâ document. Winning students would receive a check at the meeting to help cover their travel expenses to the meeting. All students giving a presentation, even those not competing for the best student awards, would be eligible for this travel award.
- Pending approval by the agency, award an additional âstudent achievementâ award for that year only; the student would receive the money for the award at the meeting (rather than getting a trip to the next yearâs meetingâthis would allow using the funds during that fiscal year). For this option, the 3 rd highest overall score (considering poster and oral presentations together) would be the winner.
Criteria for Oral Presentations
Printed Abstract: concise and accurate summary
Introduction: clear objectives and background
Methods: appropriate and clearly explained
Results: logical, clear, and pertinent
Conclusion: based on presented results, clear on salient points
Presentation: voice clear, loud enough, voice modulations appropriate, eye contact maintained
Audiovisuals: well organized, appropriate number for length of talk, simple to understand, not cluttered
Organization and Timing: logical sequence, appropriate time for each section of talk, keeps within allotted time
Understanding of Subject: presenter has good grasp of study and related areas, clear and effective response to questions
Impact of the Paper on Audience: audience attentive due to quality presentation, subject or innovative presentation
Criteria for Poster Presentations
Printed abstract: concise/accurate; summary of pertinent details; follows poster
Introduction: literature/background; objectives
Methods: scientific method; clear; appropriate; explained; originality.
Results: logical; clear; strength of data
Conclusion: are they supported by the data; interface with current theory
Poster Quality: appropriate figures/tables; readability of text
Organization: logical sequence of information
Presentation: ability to cover material; enthusiasm
Understanding of subject: presenter has good grasp of subject; ability to deal with questions
Impact on audience: clear take-home message; contribution to scientific discipline
Criteria for selecting judges for Student Achievement awards
1. An equal number of U.S and non-U.S. professionals (MS or PhD level) will be judges.
2. Judges will be selected based on past judging experience and knowledge/contribution to their field of research. The Student Awards Committee will be responsible for selecting judges.
3. GCFI Board members will always make up a portion of the judging pool.
4. All poster judges will be bilingual (English/Spanish). There will be a mix of native English and Spanish speakers as oral judges. The first language of at least 1 judge for each oral presentation will be the language of the presentation.
5. Potential judges will be contacted prior to the meeting to ascertain their interest/availability for judging. All judges will be provided with a written set of judging criteria, and a brief judges meeting at the start of the conference will provide orientation to assure that all judges use the same criteria for judging.