NARSC Graduate Student Paper Competition The North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) Graduate Student Paper Award contest is held annually in conjunction with the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI). This contest encourages the participation of young scholars by providing a forum for paper presentation and discussion by senior scholars in the field of regional science. Beginning in 2010, two separate competitions will be held for graduate student papers:

1) Graduate-Student-Author Paper Competition: Eligibility for the award is limited to current Masters and PhD students, and/or recent graduates who completed their degrees after September 1, 2012. Co-authored papers are acceptable; however, all authors listed on a paper must meet the eligibility criteria above.

2) Graduate-Student-Led Paper Competition: Eligibility for the award requires that the paper’s “primary author” be a current Masters or PhD student, or a recent graduate who completed his/her degree within twelve months preceding the submission date.
Papers with senior co-authors are acceptable; however, most of the substantive work and contribution of the paper must be directly attributable to an author who meets the eligibility criteria above.

The 2013 contest will be held in conjunction with the annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. Individuals should submit a digital copy of their paper, along with a cover letter from their academic advisor. For the Graduate-Student-Led Paper Competition, the cover letter should state the approximate percentages of the substantive work (ideas, methods, and applications) and contribution that are directly attributable to the primary author (a student or recent graduate). The paper must be presented at the conference by a student author.

Papers should be formatted consistent with Papers in Regional Science guidelines. The deadline for submission of the complete paper is September 1, 2013, with papers reviewed by a panel of judges prior to the NARSC annual conference. The winners will be announced during the awards luncheon at the NARSC Conference. All authors who are selected as finalists will receive a cash prize. In-kind prizes may also be awarded. The prize-winning papers will also be considered for publication in Papers in Regional Science. Because the papers will be subject to standard review procedures, publication is not guaranteed.

Those who wish to submit a paper to the NARSC Graduate Student Paper Award contest can indicate this when submitting the abstract (by July 1, 2013) by ticking the relevant box on the abstract submission page. The full paper must be submitted in electronic form by September 1, 2013, to

Peter L. Stenberg, USDA-ERS
NARSC.Stenberg@gmail.com

If you have any further questions about the NARSC Graduate Student Paper Award contests, please contact NARSC.Stenberg@gmail.com.

Since the competition’s inception in 2006, first prize in the NARSC Graduate Student Paper Competition has been awarded to the following students: