The IEEE Region 8 Student Activities Committee is honourably announcing the SECONDCALL for the Local Student Paper Contest Events Program.
This program calls for section student activities (SSAC) and student branch leaders (SBs’ Chair) to submit their own version of a local student paper contest event and get the chance to win a grant of 300$ per Student Branch or 500$ per Section.
Be prepared for the next call in September 2023. The local winners are highly supported and encouraged to apply for the Regional SPC.
& Keep it quick, first come, first served, and invite all of your talented students as SB or Section Officers or even Conferences officers at IEE
Important Dates
Deadline for the proposals submission: July 5, 2023
Announcement on the funding decision: 2-3 weeks after proposal submission deadline
Event Implementation: August – November 2023 (please plan November 23 as the last date for implementation because of the R8 SPC deadline, December 1)
Reporting Submission: by November 30, 2023
Funding Release: December 2023
Goals
Giving incentives to IEEE Region 8 Sections and Student Branches for establishing local student paper contests;
Provide an opportunity for students to showcase their technical skills;
Promote the Regional Student Paper Contest, as well as increase awareness and participation.
General
Once every year, each IEEE Region 8 (R8) Student Branch (SB) may hold a Local Student Paper Contest (LSPC) under its own responsibility.
The winner(s) of each LSPC may submit their papers for the R8 SPC. A Branch may submit one paper if it has 10 – 99 members, up to two papers if it has 100 – 199 members, and up to three papers for members beyond 200 based on the latest available IEEE Annual Statistics.
Even if a Local SPC is not held by a Student Branch, one paper can be submitted by the SB to the Regional SPC if the SB Counselor supports the paper and the paper complies with the SPC rules. Moreover, SB or Section officers can identify and encourage talented students to submit their technical papers to the R8 SPC. Conferences (supported by the IEEE OUs and taking place in the R8 area) that have student papers sessions included in their programs could also offer the possibility to submit the best student papers to the R8 SPC. In that case, full students’ papers should not be published in the Conference Proceedings to qualify for submission in R8 SPC.
Authors
Only IEEE Student Members and IEEE Graduate Student Members are permitted to author papers submitted to the Regional SPC in its initial phase. Each author has to be an active member of a Student Branch in Region 8 at the time of the original submission of the paper and a member (student or not) of the IEEE at the time of the oral presentation.
The work presented in the paper must have been completed during undergraduate or graduate studies. In other words, the work presented in the paper must not be part of the Ph.D. research. Submission of the paper to the R8 SPC must be completed within 12 months after graduation.
After the first R8 SPC phase is completed and the five best papers are selected, finalists’ supervisors/mentors may be added as authors to the final versions (camera-ready papers). This does not change in any way the basic rule that the submitted paper is the work of the student.
Papers
Papers should cover technical and engineering aspects of a subject reasonably within or related to the areas with which the IEEE is concerned. The work need not be original in engineering or scientific content but should be original in treatment and clearly show the author’s contribution to the subject.
Although the paper previously submitted to the Local Student Paper Contest may be written in local language, the paper submitted to the Regional SPC must be written in English.
Previously published work will not be accepted in the R8 Student Paper Contest.
The paper should not exceed six (6) pages. Overlength papers will not be considered for the contest.
The paper must be written using the two-column IEEE Transaction style. A font size of 10 pt or larger should be used. The IEEE Style Manual and Conference Paper templates in various formats are available here.
Please don’t forget to remove authors and institutions from the initial paper! As mentioned above, the final version will contain authors, institutions, and if needed the mentor/supervisor name(s) as well
Rules
(Read Carefully)
Applicants to this program can be either Sections or Student Branches;
The application should include an endorsement letter:
For Sections, only Section Chair, SSAC or SSR can provide an endorsement;
For Student Branches, only Student Branch Chair or Counselor can provide an endorsement.
Participants should be students affiliated with the organizing OU;
The local SPC papers cannot get published on conference proceedings with ISBN;
The local contest should follow the rules of R8 SPC;
As mentioned above, it is strictly required that the initial version of the SPC paper submitted to the R8 SPC does not show the identities of the authors and their higher education institutions;
The finalists papers of these local events have to be submitted for the Regional Student Paper Contest:
1 finalist for OUs with less than 100 student members;
2 finalists for OUs with 100 – 199 student members;
3 finalists for OUs with more than 200 student members.
Note: Student members include both Student Member Grade and Graduate Student Member Grade.
Note: Even if a Local SPC is not held by a Student Branch, one paper can be submitted by the SB to the Regional SPC if the SB Counselor supports the paper and the paper complies with the SPC rules.
Submissions
The proposal shall contain the following information:
Summary of the proposal (max. 250 words)
Description of the Local Student Paper Contest
Proposed Title, Date, Venue and Organizing Team
Preliminary Budget
Suggested Program and Time Schedule
Goals and KPIs
Provide a short timeframe with milestones
The event should be organized within the year of approval and in any case before the R8 SPC deadline for submissions
The submission shall:
be a maximum of 6 pages (without endorsement letter);
be in Times new roman font and 11 font size;
be submitted in pdf format;
include as attachment the endorsement letter.
Paper Guidelines are:
Title page. The title should contain the minimum number of keywords necessary to accurately represent the paper’s content.
Abstract. The abstract, no longer than 100 words, should provide the essential facts of the paper’s content, such as a brief statement of the problem or objective and a concise summary of results or conclusions. Methods or other details should only be included if they are unique or of particular significance.
Introduction. The introduction should lead the reader to develop an understanding of the paper’s significance. Background information, including the state of the art, should be provided. The added benefits of the method of approach and the importance of results or conclusions should be emphasized.
Body. The main argument should be presented in a logical sequence according to a prepared outline, complete with supporting data. Writing should be in the third person. Curves, charts, or tables are useful for presenting supporting data and results.
Conclusions. Conclusions are often considered the most important part of a paper. They should be stated concisely in a separate section at the end of the paper. If there are three or more conclusions, numbering each and setting them off in a separate paragraph can increase emphasis.
Appendices. Appendices should be used for detailed mathematical proofs, equation development, and examples that are subordinate to the main argument in the body of the paper but not essential to following the argument. References to appendices should be made in the text.
References. Any information or development taken from external sources, such as books, periodicals, or courses, should be clearly referenced in the text, and a suitable reference list appended to enable readers to consult those sources.
Submission
As mentioned above, it is strictly required that the initial version of the SPC paper submitted to the R8 SPC does not show the identities of the authors and their higher education institutions.
The Cover Page should contain the authors’ and institutions’ data, and the Paper Supplement should provide additional information about the paper, helping the jury members with judging. The Counselor Certificate should confirm the authors’ eligibility for submitting their papers for the SPC, including the author’s IEEE membership number(s), the study level, and the year(s) during which the work was performed. Any other useful information concerning the work and background is welcome.
From the Submission Package, only the paper without authors’ names and Paper Supplement will be sent to jury members.
The deadline to send SPC papers accompanied by other required documents is normally 1 December of the current year for the contest to be held in the next year. If the deadline is extended, the new deadline will be published on SAC website and in social media.
Send the SPC submission packages by email to r8sac@ieee.org.
Judging
Proposals will be judged from R8 SAC in the following areas:
Solid content and Planning;
Alignment with program goals.
An international Jury will grade the written papers without knowledge of the identity of the authors and their institutions. The number of Jury members is four to five, including the R8 SPC Coordinator.
The contest consists of two parts, a written part and an oral part. The maximum number of points for the written part of the contest is 70, with technical content graded with a maximum of 45 points, and the quality of presentation graded with a maximum of 25 points. Based on the written part, the jury will select five papers for presentation at the Region 8 SPC oral finals. The maximum number of points for the oral part is 30.
JURY GUIDELINES ON GRADING THE PAPER
To provide a uniform grading standard, the following criteria are suggested:
Do the authors present their independent work?
Is the significant amount of presented work new? Do the authors present a novel interpretation of existing work?
Is the subject matter of substantial technical content and is it presented at an acceptably advanced level?
Is the 100-word abstract concise, informative and accurate?
Does the written presentation include a satisfactory introduction which properly orients the reader with respect to the general area with which the paper deals?
Do the conclusions of the paper summarize the reader’s impression of what the work has accomplished? Are the conclusions supported by evidence?
Is the paper technically accurate?
Does the exposition (and analysis which may be involved) proceed in an orderly and logical manner? Is the paper self-contained (complete, having all that is needed)?
Does the author exhibit ingenuity and resourcefulness in methods of presentation, choice of illustrations, use of analogies and the like?
Is an unmistakable meaning conveyed with acceptable brevity?
Is the format and typesetting quality of the paper appropriate?
Is the list of references adequate?
Is the text written correctly in terms of English language?
About Oral Finals:
Finalists selected by the Jury will be invited to present their papers at one of the Region 8 Flagship Conferences within a special SPC session (normally MELECON or EUROCON). Finalists are also invited to attend the conference fully and are waived from paying the conference registration fee. Travel expenses (train 2nd class, bus or plane economy class for long distances) will be provided by the Region 8 Student Activities Fund to one author of each paper accepted for oral presentation. Living expenses which may occur while attending the oral presentation may also be reimbursed. The guidelines for the expense reimbursement will be provided to finalists before the conference.
Finalists should give a pleasant and logical presentation of the subject matter suited to 15-20 minutes. The presentation should not attempt to cover the entire paper but rather to give a general idea and enlarge on one or two specific points. The Jury will question each contestant for an additional period of 10 minutes typically.
Prizes
Based on both the written and oral parts, the final ranking list will be made. Winners will be announced and awarded at the Awards Ceremony, typically held during the Conference Gala Dinner.
There are cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place of $800, $500, and $200, respectively. In addition, the Region 8 Student Activities Committee offers $250 to the Student Branch from which the winner comes.
Funding
The entries which exceed the minimum standards will receive up to 300$ per Student Branch or up to 500$ per Section to be used as secured funding. The funding covers up to 80% of the total budget.
The funding will be sent in the (parent) Section’s bank.
Reporting
Should your funding be initially approved, you will have to submit follow-up documents after the event takes place.
The required follow-up materials include:
Report of the event, including the description of the event and its outcomes
Number of attendees (divided according to IEEE and non-IEEE members)
Impact of event (presence of any significant participants/speakers, partnerships or collaborations with other IEEE organizational units or Industry, and reach on social media – including posts, amount of views and number of unique engagements)
