Student Presentation Judges

We’re looking for judges to assist us with assessing the student talks at this years Annual Meeting in Belfast!

Each year we call upon a diverse group of 60 judges to select winners for our Student Poster and Talk Prizes at our December Annual Meeting. This is a great opportunity to recognise early career ecologists who embody the qualities and values we stand for, and reward them for their hard work and outstanding research. This year we are inviting delegates to join this panel of judges through an open call. In order to apply to be a judge, applicants must be post-PhD.

Deadline: The deadline has now passed

Of over 500 oral presentations taking place throughout the week, we have around 150 that will be considered for the Anne Keymer talk prize. We will also have 250 posters on display throughout the week, 150 of which will be considered as part of the student poster prize.

Anne Keymer Prize

This prize is named in the memory of Anne Keymer and awarded for the best oral presentation by a postgraduate student at our Annual Meeting. In 1981, Anne was one of the first winners of this previously unnamed prize. She went on to a career of great distinction, before dying of cancer in 1993, at the age of 36. She was a member of our Journal of Animal Ecology editorial board and was an exemplary scholar, teacher and citizen. In naming this prize after Anne, we recognise a younger ecologist who embodies, to a remarkable degree, the qualities and values we stand for.

In order to be eligible, students must present a paper at our Annual Meeting and, usually, be a current or recent graduate and present work that was completed when still a student. Competition for the prize is fierce. Our panel of judges will select the winner and the prize is an honorarium of £250. There are two runner up prizes of £100 each.

Best Poster Prize

We also award a prize for the best poster by a research student at our Annual Meeting. To enter, students must present a poster and be a current or recent graduate presenting work completed as a student. The entrant should be the first author of the poster and have undertaken the majority of the work being presented.

Our panel of judges will select the winner and the prize is an honorarium of £250. Runner-up prizes of £100 are also usually awarded.

Judges

We are therefore looking for around 60 judges to help grade both talks and posters.

Judges would be required to be present at a number of talks throughout the conference, in order to grade them. These will be determined before the meeting, and sent out via email. Scores and comments will be completed via a Google form and collated by the in-house team. Judges availability will be taken into account and we will ensure that no assigned talks interfere with judges’ own presentations.

For assessing the posters, judges will be required to be present either sometime between the morning coffee break and lunchtime on two days to shortlist, or during the two evening poster sessions to fully assess up to 8 posters whilst the student is present.

Both talks and posters are scored on categories including; visual style, scientific content, originality of research, response to questions and effectiveness of communication.

If you would like to join our student judging panel for BES2019 then complete the short form, linked below. In order to apply applicants must be post-PhD.

Deadline: CLOSED

Without our volunteer judges, we would be unable to offer these prizes, therefore any assistance would be very much appreciated!