1. Aim

The purpose of the Best Graduate Student Paper Award competition is to recognise a graduate student who demonstrates the ability to produce a high quality research paper presented during the NISPAcee Annual Conference.

2. Description of the Award

The award for the Best Graduate Student Paper was first announced in 2005, during the 13th NISPAcee Annual Conference. The winner is presented with a certificate and the paper is published in a NISPAcee publication.

3. Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for the competition, a conference participant should meet the following criteria:

• be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate degree programme,
• be from the NISPAcee region; the paper should also be focused on the NISPAcee region,
• the paper abstract must be accepted by one of the annual NISPAcee conference’s working groups or working sessions,
  
• be registered for the NISPAcee conference,
• present the accepted paper at the NISPAcee conference,
• submit the full paper prior to the NISPAcee conference within the official conference deadline for submission of full papers.

Papers written in co-authorship with other graduate students are allowed, providing they meet the eligibility criteria. In this case, it is also necessary to submit a confirmation regarding the co-author status.
Papers written in co-authorship with graduated co-author(s) are not eligible.

4. Submission Process

In order to participate in the competition, a student must indicate her/his interest in the application, with a paper proposal for the upcoming NISPAcee conference and complete in the NISPAcee database and application module, the following data:

• First and last name.
• Title of the paper.
• Institutional affiliation.
• Degree programme.
• CV.
• In addition, the applicant must submit to the NISPAcee Headquarters, confirmation regarding her/his study, issued by the relevant university. The letter should also include an e-mail address and phone number for the academic adviser or department head.
The deadline for submitting the application is the same as the official deadline for the submission of papers for the conference. 

The paper should be uploaded to the NISPAcee website as a regular conference paper; members of the Selection Committee will identify it based on the application.

5. Award Committee

Achievements in any additional areas, such as contribution to the practice of public administration, applied research or commitment to the NISPAcee activities, if pointed out in the nomination dossier, are welcome but cannot replace the criteria under i) and ii).

6. Criteria for Selection

In selecting the best graduate student paper, the Selection Committee members will use the following criteria:
•    the paper addresses an important public sector issue;
•    good research design;
•    quality and significance of the research;
•    high-quality data collection methods and analysis where appropriate;
•    originality, clarity and sophistication of argument;
•    overall professional organisation of the paper (style, footnotes, bibliography).
The Selection Committee, at its discretion, may establish other criteria.

7. Announcement of Award

The winner of the Best Graduate Student Paper Award is announced during the Closing Session of the NISPAcee annual conference.

Awards

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