Best Student Paper Prize during ESEE 2015 conference

Objectives

During the ESEE 2015 conference, a prize for the Best Student Paper (BSP) presented at the conference will be awarded. The key objective is to motivate and enhance opportunities for PhD students to publish, to advertise high quality student research within ESEE, and to increase the participation and visibility of students within ESEE.

Constitution of the prize

The Best Student Paper prize will include:

• In-kind contribution of books or Journal issues, if sponsored by publishers
• Free entrance to the following ESEE conference
• An exposé in the ESEE newsletter and on the ESEE website
• A refereeing process that will lead to at least an "accepted with major revisions" publication status in "Environmental Policy and Governance"(but not necessarily in the EPG Special ESEE Conference Issue).

1-2 runner-up prizes may also be awarded if there is a sufficient number of high quality submissions. A runner-up prize will include:

• A 50% discount in the attendance fee for the following ESEE conference
• A short exposé in the ESEE newsletter and on the ESEE website
• A refereeing process that will lead to at least an "accepted with major revisions" publication status in "Environmental Policy and Governance" (but not necessarily in the EPG Special ESEE Conference Issue).

Application criteria

To be eligible, papers must:

• Be a full, original, unpublished manuscript in English;
• Be led by a student and written by a student as the first or only author;
• Where there are multiple authors, include a clear description of the contribution that each author made to the work, highlighting the student(s) contribution;
• Represent an original work in ecological economics
• Follow standard ethical requirements in research;
• Be presented as an oral presentation by the candidate during the ESEE conference;
• Contain a maximum of 8000 words (excl. tables and figures), and be accompanied by an abstract of max. 300 words;

Student representatives are not eligible for competition during their active terms as members in the ESEE board.

Poster submissions are not eligible; there will be a separate best poster prize arranged by the conference organisers.

Organisation

The Best Student Paper prize is assigned by the ESEE Board represented by the Best Student Prize (BSP) jury, composed of ESEE Board members and ESEE conference organising committee members.

Full papers should be submitted through the regular conference submission process and will be forwarded by the conference organisers to the BSP jury at least 2 months prior to the conference. The prize is presented during the conference dinner or the ESEE ordinary general meeting.

Evaluation process

The assessment process is based on full papers. The assessment is based on standard reviewing criteria: (1) originality, (2) scientific quality, (3) relevance to ecological economics, (4) clarity and flair of writing, (5) compliance with BSP formal application criteria.

Each manuscript is assigned by the chair to two jury members for review, who independently, qualitatively rate a paper on the following scale: inadequate - adequate - good - very good - outstanding; for each of the five points above. Evaluation of oral presentations at the conference may be used to verify the contribution of the applicant in case there are multiple authors and questions around the applicant's contribution.

If a large number of papers are submitted, the chair may divide the jury in subgroups, which each nominate a selection of papers for final consideration by the prize jury as a whole.  The BSP jury finalises its selection at a meeting in person during the conference. If no consensus can be reached, the prize may be awarded by majority vote or may be shared.

Previous BSP winners

2013, winners: Stefano Carattini, "Unconventional Determinants of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Role of Trust" and Kristofer Dittmer "Local currencies for purposive de-growth? A quality check of some proposals for changing money-as-usual".

2011, winner: Jasper Kenter, "The importance of deliberation in valuing ecosystem services in developing countries - Evidence from the Solomon Islands"

2009, winners: Arnim Scheides "Diet, trade, and land use. The social ecology of the food system. Case study olive oil" and Catherine Jolibert "Need assessment in multi-level governance: A tool for environmental conflict?"

2007, winner: Claudio Cattaneo "integrated assessment of a local squatting community"