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Student Prize Paper Award

The Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research (SPER) invites manuscripts for consideration for the Student Prize Paper Award. The deadline for submission is February 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT.

This competition is open to work completed by graduate and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, research trainees, and clinical fellows. To be eligible for the award, the candidate should lead the work as its first author and the work must have been completed within 12 months of application for the award while the candidate was a student or trainee. The paper should represent work in the field of reproductive, perinatal, or pediatric epidemiology.

To be considered for the award, the following documents must be submitted in a single PDF file named as the candidate’s last name with the initials SPP appended at the beginning (i.e., SPP_lastname):

  • Cover letter from the candidate including the following information: name, address, telephone number, email address, current position, name of the supervisor under which the work was completed, and when and where the work was completed, and stage of training when the work was completed
  • Completed manuscript
  • Letter of support from the mentor under which the work was completed that addresses the eligibility and evaluation criteria

While the paper must be unpublished when submitted for consideration for the award, it may be under review. Candidates may also submit the paper simultaneously to the Tyroler or Lilienfeld Prize competitions of the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER); however if the paper is selected for either of those awards, it will not be eligible for the SPER award. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The winner is also expected to have an active Society membership at the time of meeting registration. (note: annual student/fellow membership is greatly discounted).

The winner of the award will present the selected paper at the SPER Annual Meeting. Winners will be reimbursed up to $750 for domestic and $1500 for international travel. Travel expense receipts must be submitted in order to receive funds. The winner will also receive $500 plus two-night hotel stay, and SPER Meeting registration costs will be waived.

Important note: Candidates must submit the abstract of their paper via the regular Annual Meeting call for abstracts if they wish to have the paper considered for the meeting in the event they do not receive the Student Prize Paper Award.

Evaluation criteria (to be scored by award reviewers in equal weight):

The submission will be evaluated according to the following review criteria:

(1) Originality and novelty of the research question

(2) Soundness of analytical methods

(3) Presentation/scientific communication

(4) Rationale/potential impact of the work

(5) Involvement/leadership of the student in the project