ICES Merit Awards

The following ICES Merit Awards will be presented at the closing ceremony of the Annual Science Conference. They formally recognize the best research presentation and poster.  Additionally, two Oral Presentation and one Poster Presentation Award will be provided to Early Career Scientists.
The award winners are selected by an evaluation panel appointed by ICES Science Committee (SCICOM). Award candidates should meet one or more of the following criteria.

• The “Best Presentation” award should be given to the candidate who demonstrates scientific excellence, creativity, innovation, and leadership in addressing a particular science question in an objective, clear, and concise manner. The individual’s ability to respond to questions concerning their presentation should also be considered.
  
  
• The ”Best Poster” award should go to the poster that is creative, straightforward, and balanced, combining science and art. It should integrate the text and figures in a creative way and present them in a manner understandable by viewers with little previous knowledge of the scientific subject. The message of the poster should be readily visible and understandable. People should remember this poster as THE POSTER of the meeting.
  
  
• NEW – Starting in 2011, three Early Career Scientist Awards will be conferred at the ASC (two Oral Presentations and one Poster Presentation). These awards will emphasize the quality of the presentations and not the career achievements of the Early Career Scientists. Criteria include:
  
  
• Oral Presentations
  
  
• Quality of the Presented Science: scientific achievement, robustness of approach, innovation, appropriate theoretical–analytical foundation, potential impact of the research.
• Quality of the Presentation: overall quality of delivery, clear statement of objectives, logical flow of information, findings placed into context with existing knowledge, interpretations supported by findings, clear and easily understood graphics, strengths and weaknesses acknowledged.
• Responsiveness: clear responses to questions, evidence of a good knowledge base.
  
  
• Poster Presentations
  
  
• The same criteria for Oral Presentations mostly apply for Poster Presentations. Overall visual impact and structure/organization of the poster presentation have added importance. Specific criteria include: a concise title that grabs the eye, lettering large enough to be clearly read, logical and clear organization, clear graphics, and minimal text to tell the story.

Theme Session Chairs (or designees) will identify eligible, high-quality oral and poster presentations in their sessions, providing evaluation, comment, and rankings, as appropriate, to the Selection Committee. Eligible for this award are scientists no older than 35 years at the time of the ASC. The awardees need not be first-time presenters at an ASC. However, they should not have received a previous Early Career/Young Scientist Award from ICES. It is assumed that the awardee is the first author and major contributor of the research presented. The prizes are framed certificates and vouchers for €1,000, to be used to cover participation costs in an ICES-sponsored activity, i.e. Training Course, EG Meeting, Symposium, Workshop, but not the ASC. The voucher must be redeemed within 24 months of the award.