The AACC International Professional Development Panel is hosting a Best Student Research Paper Competition to be held at the 2010 AACC Intl. Annual Meeting. The objectives of the competition are to challenge students to demonstrate superior presentation skills, encourage students to present their research work at AACC Intl., highlight the best research conducted and presented by students, and offer an opportunity for students to interact with the AACC Intl. community at an early stage in their career.

The competition will be judged in two stages. The AACC Intl. Best Student Research Paper Competition jury will review the nomination forms, abstracts, and initial presentations. Based on the judge’s scores, six students will be chosen to participate in the competition taking place at the October 24-27, 2010, Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.

Academic departments may submit one nominee each for the competition. More than one student may be nominated from a university as long as the nomination comes from different departments. It is up to the department to determine which student will be chosen for the competition.

Schedule

• By February 28, Department Heads submit nomination forms; students submit abstracts (up to 1,900 characters) and initial presentations.
• During the month of March, judges will review and rank the presentations.
• Participants will be notified April 1 as to if they will be moving on to the final competition. All other presenters will be encouraged to submit their abstract to the annual meeting system for consideration by April 15.
• Six finalists will participate in the final competition taking place at the October 24-27, 2010, Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.

Criteria

In order for the Best Student Research Paper Competition jury to fairly evaluate each paper, specific criteria will be used by all judges to allow for fair and uniform evaluation of all submissions. Criteria will be available by the end of January.

The chair of the AACC Intl. Best Student Research Paper Competition jury will tally the results of the competition and will announce the winners.

Submission

To be considered for the competition, Department Heads must fill out the nomination form and send it to Susan Kohn at skohn@scisoc.org or fax it to +1.651.454.0766 by February 28.

Students should send an abstract of up to 1,900 characters to Susan Kohn at skohn@scisoc.org or fax to +1.651.454.0766 by February 28. See the abstract information page for full abstract instructions.

In addition, students must submit a short (5 minutes or less) PowerPoint presentation explaining the goal of the work, its significance, novelty and/or timeliness. The PowerPoint presentation should contain text in the notes field indicating points covered on the slide that would be verbally shared with the audience.

The PowerPoint presentation should be uploaded to http://dropbox.yousendit.com/scisoc. When uploading your file, enter “Best Student Research Paper Competition” in the subject line and your name and paper title in the enter message box. Uploading your presentation may take a few minutes, do not close the page until you receive a message stating the process is complete.

All nomination forms, abstracts, and presentations must be received by February 28, 2010, to be considered for this year’s competition. These pieces will be used by the AACC Intl. Best Student Research Paper Competition jury to determine the top six students chosen to compete at the October 24-27, 2010, Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.

Eligibility

All full-time students are eligible to submit. Applicants must provide proof of student status by way of department chair signature on the nomination form.

The student presenting the paper must be an author of the presentation, must have made a major contribution to the research, must present it, and must take primary responsibility for its content.

Student-Faculty authored papers: When more than one author is listed on the paper, a student applicant must be the primary author (listed first). If the other authors are faculty members, the authors must provide a letter affirming that the student applicant contributed more than 50 percent of the content.

Multiple Authored Papers: If students are submitting a paper written by a group, a corresponding author must be identified. The author will speak on behalf of all of the authors. If a multiple-authored paper wins the competition, the corresponding author will receive the prizes. Distribution of the prize will be left to the corresponding author.

Submitters do not need to be AACC International members. AACC Intl. encourages all authors to become student members for only $43.

Students participating in the final competition must register for the annual meeting. It is the student's responsibility to attend the annual meeting. If, for any reason, a finalist cannot attend the meeting, they will be disqualified.

Prizes

Winners of the competition will be announced at the annual meeting where the competition took place. Each of the six finalists will receive a $650 travel grant to attend the annual meeting. Awards will be:

First Place: $1,250 cash award, $650 travel grant, and the opportunity to publish their paper in Cereal Chemistry, Cereal Foods World, or the Cereal Science Knowledge Database. If the student is not already an AACC International member, they will be granted free student membership for one year.

Second Place: $750 cash award, $650 travel grant, and the opportunity to publish their paper in Cereal Chemistry, Cereal Foods World, or the Cereal Science Knowledge Database. If the student is not already an AACC International member, they will be granted free student membership for one year.

Third Place: $500 cash award, $650 travel grant, and the opportunity to publish their paper in Cereal Chemistry, Cereal Foods World, or the Cereal Science Knowledge Database. If the student is not already an AACC International member, they will be granted free student membership for one year.

AACC International kindly thanks the following sponsors for providing award funds:

Cargill Inc
CSM Innovation Center Bakery Ingredients
Flowers Foods
Frito Lay Inc
General Mills Inc.
ICL Performance Product LP
Kellogg Co.
Kraft Foods
McCormick Co. Inc.
The Schwan Food Co.

Questions regarding this competition should be sent to Professional Development Panel Chair Jon Faubion at jfaubion@ksu.edu or staff member Susan Kohn at skohn@scisoc.org.