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SWST

Society of Wood Science and Technology

Student Poster Competition

Guidelines and Procedures

The purpose of the Student Poster Competition is to:

1.  Encourage student membership and participation in SWST

2.  Encourage student attendance at the SWST Annual Convention

3.  Recognize excellence in student research, and

4.  Improve the visibility of student research efforts

The competition will be held on November 10, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm during the Technical Poster Session of the Annual Convention. All undergraduate and graduate students who are members of SWST may participate. There should be no coauthors on the poster session, however, faculty sponsors and funding agencies should be identified in both the abstract and poster display. Before the competition, they will be presented a Certificate of Participation to display on their poster. The individual selected for first place will be awarded $500 and a first place plaque, second place winner will receive $250 and a second place plaque, and third place winner will receive $125 and a third place plaque. Winners will be announced at the SWST Business  Meeting on November 11, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. All participants will  be announced in one of the SWST publications.

To apply, a student must submit the following materials to the SWST Executive Director by September 10^th for the November 10-12, 2008 Annual Convention.  No Abstracts will be accepted after this date.

• A membership application form for SWST and payment for annual dues (if not already a member).

• A Student Poster Competition application form.

• One electronic copy or four printed copies of 250-word maximum abstract. The abstract should identify the title, author and affiliation, and contain a single spaced narrative giving the purpose and significance of the research, a summary of procedures, and the most important results. Faculty sponsors and funding agencies should also be listed. The abstract will be considered as part of the judging criteria.

Posters can be set up anytime during the day, November 10th.  The abstracts and poster presentations will be evaluated by a committee of 4 judges (the Chair of the Education Center and three others) on a 100-point scale:

Submitted abstract:

1.  Soundness of research hypothesis (10 points)

2.  Scientific writing ability (10 points)

3.  Organization (10 points)

Poster presentation:

1.  Scientific merit (newness, breadth of interest, potential impact of the research) (15 points)

2.  Experimental design and thoroughness of investigation (15 points)

3.  Validity of conclusions (15 points)

4.  Organization and visual quality of presentation(15 points)

5.  Response to questions of judges (10 points)

The chair of the Education Committee will have overall responsibility for the competition including selecting judges. Judges will not assess student posters on whose committee they serve. The chair of the judging committee does not vote except when one of the other judges is exempted. Posters will be presented in English.

Print an Application Form to participate in the Competition.

NOTE: You must be a member of SWST who has paid their 2008 dues of $25 in order to participate in the Competition. You must also pay the Convention Registration fee of $50 for student attendees, which does not include the November 12th tour. The tour must be purchased separately.

         

Last updated: 4/21/08
For further information, please contact Vicki Herian at vicki@swst.org