The Robert T. Gast Award (Ph.D.) and the Southeastern Branch Student Award (M.S.) are awarded to students who present the best research papers at the ESA-SEB annual meeting. The awards are based on the performance of the student’s oral presentation. Each of the first place recipients of both Robert T. Gast and The Southeastern Branch Student Awards receives a check of $200 and a plaque. The second place awardees each receive a check of $100 and a certificate. At the discretion of the Student Awards Committee, honorable mention may be awarded for third place, if the number of participants is high. The awards are presented at the ESA-SEB annual meeting Awards Luncheon and the recipients are encouraged to be present to receive the award.
Eligibility
Submissions
Evaluation Criteria
Evaluation Procedures
Previous Winners
Eligibility
The nominee must be a current ESA-SEB student member pursuing a graduate program leading to a Ph.D. degree (Robert T. Gast Award) or an M.S. degree (Southeastern Branch Student Award). Application for ESA student membership must have been made before January 1 of the year the award is granted. The student must not have graduated more than one year before presentation of the award at the annual Branch Meeting. An active ESA member returning for graduate study is not eligible.
Submissions
The competition is announced annually during the call for submissions and every eligible student may submit one oral presentation title. There is no limit to the number of students who can be from the same institution. A student may enter only one competition each year.
Evaluation Criteria
View the scoring criteria, along with helpful tips for competitors on the Southeastern Branch Student Ten-Minute Paper Competition Information website.
Evaluation Procedures
Chair works with the judges at the ESA-SEB annual meeting to determine awardees for the Robert T. Gast Award and Southeastern Branch Student Award. Judges evaluate student performance individually and a ranked list of students and associated evaluations are submitted to the Student Awards Committee Chair. Chair identifies and determines the awardees (top-ranked students) based on the averages of the judges’ scores.
Previous Winners
View the list of those who have previously received the Robert T. Gast Award. View the list of those who have previously received the Southeastern Branch Student Award.