2023 Student Information

Student Poster Competition

Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Crown Plaza Resort Asheville, Blue Ridge Room

Purpose

The purpose of the Student Poster Competition is to:

Encourage student membership and participation in SWST
Encourage student attendance at the SWST International Convention
Recognize excellence in student research, and
Improve the visibility of student research efforts

Eligibility

The competition will be held on Tuesday, June 27, during the Technical Poster Session of the International Convention.

All undergraduate and graduate students who are members of SWST may participate. If you are attending the Convention in Asheville, you will be considered a member as your fees include a 1-year membership.

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

Recognition

Before the competition, students will be presented a Certificate of Participation to display on their posters.

First place: $750 and a first place plaque
Second place: $500 and a second place plaque
Third place: $250 and a third place plaque

Winners will be announced at the Awards Presentation on Friday, June 30. All participants will be announced in one of the SWST publications.

Application Procedures

To apply, a student must indicate in their abstract submission that they would like to participate in the Competition.

https://swst2023convention.exordo.com

Judging Procedures

Posters can be set up anytime beginning Monday, June 26 after 8:30. Posters must be removed by 17:00, Thursday, June 29. You MUST BE at your poster during the Poster Competition times in order to answer questions from the judges.

The abstracts and poster presentations will be evaluated by a committee of 4 judges 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 committees they serve. The chair of the judging committee does not vote except when one of the other judges is exempted. Posters must be presented in English.

Poster Guidelines

Size of Posters

• Poster dimensions – Usable size 91.44 cm (3 ft) wide by 121.92 cm (4 ft) high
• Velcro or push pins will be available to affix your poster to the board
• Posters should be designed accordingly with clear diagrams and text that can be read from a distance of 1.5 m
• SWST is offering the opportunity for poster presenters to have their posters printed onsite for a fee of $45! Please send pdf of your poster to Executive Director by June 9.

All Poster presentations MAY SUBMIT a 4-8 page technical paper (due May 15, 2023 through the Ex Ordo system) to be published by SWST in a Proceedings USB given to all International Convention attendees, and then electronically published on the SWST web site. See Proceedings Guidelines

Student Travel Grants

The SWST Student Travel Grant Program provides partial support for travel expenses to attend the 2023 SWST International Convention. Students selected for support under this grant program will be expected to present a research poster at the Convention.

Each grant will consist of an award up to $1000.

Travel Grant Application Process

Each application will consist of a completed SWST Student Travel Grant Application Form (PDF) and an abstract of 500 words or less describing the research topic to be presented at the International Convention. Abstracts will be evaluated for research hypothesis, scientific merit, organization and clarity of expression. Applications will be reviewed by the SWST Education & Accreditation Committee, with recommendations for funding made to the Executive Board of the Society.

Deadline for Travel Grant Application

Applications for Student Travel Grants must be submitted to the Executive Office in Madison by April 1, 2023. Applications will be reviewed by the Committee by April 15, 2023, with recommendation to the Executive Board. It is anticipated that grant awards will be announced by April 15, 2023.

Submit to Executive Director, SWST, email: execdir@dev.swst.org

Grants will be presented by Executive Director at the International Convention immediately following the SWST Annual Business Meeting on Friday, June 30, 2023.

Student Oral Awards

Any student giving an oral presentation (excluding the 3-minute Early Stage Researcher presentation) is eligible for our Student Oral Award.

First place: $500 and a first place plaque
Second place: $300 and a second place plaque
Third place: $200 and a third place plaque

Winners will be announced at the Awards Presentation on Friday, June 30. All participants will be announced in one of the SWST publications.

The abstracts and oral presentations will be evaluated by a committee of 4 judges on a 90-point scale:

I. Presentation Document (e.g. PowerPoint)
a. Aesthetics (too muich text, use of color, etc) (10 points)
b. Organization (10 points)
c. Clarity of graphics (readability) (10 points)
d. Bonus for unusual and effective content (creativity or technology (5 points)

II. Oral Presentation:
a. Clarity of speech (diction and volume) (10 points)
b. Eye contact & body language (10 points)
c. Introduction (purpose and justification) (10 points)
d. Conclusion or summary (10 points)
e. Completed on time (5 points)
f. Soliciting/answering questions (5 points)

g. Impact of research (theory or application) (5 points)

Presentations are evaluated based on the quality of the presentation and not the scientific merit of the research.

Student Deadlines

1^st December 2022: Call for abstracts out, as well as call for Student travel grants and Student Poster Competition participants

1^stJanuary 2023: Early registration opens

15^thFebruary 2023: Abstract submission closes – all abstracts must be submitted

15^th March 2023: Authors chosen by session chairs and notified

31^stMarch 2023: Authors responses back to SWST for inclusion in program

1^st April 2023: Student Travel Grant applications submission closes

1^st April 2023: Program will be settled

15^th April 2023: Travel grant awardees notified

15^thMay 2023: Early registration prices end

15^thMay 2023: Full papers due for proceedings – All oral and poster presentations MAY submit a 4-8 page technical paper via Ex Ordo system to be published by SWST in a Proceedings (USB) given to all International Convention attendees, and then electronically published via the internet on the SWST webpage. See guidelines for preparation and formatting of proceedings papers above.

15^thMay 2023: Biographical information and .jpg format photo for oral and poster presenters due to https://swst2023convention.exordo.com

9^thJune 2023: Posters to Executive Director if being printed by SWST

15^thJune 2023: Online registration closes – Prices increased for onsite registration

15^thJune 2023: PDF of posters to Executive Director for printing

15^thJune 2023: PowerPoint presentations for oral presenters and PDFs of posters uploaded to https://swst2023convention.exordo.com