Students participating in the IUP Scholars Forum are eligible for several awards. Presentations will be judged during the event. Winners will be notified by email and invited to a Student Research Awards Luncheon, typically the following week. Read more about the awards below!
Dean’s Award
The college deans support the Dean's Award. This award has an undergraduate and a graduate tier. The top-ranked undergraduate and graduate projects within each college (poster or paper) receive a $250 gift card; this award is evenly divided among co-presenters.
Outstanding Poster
This award is supported by the IUP Research Institute. The Outstanding Poster award is given to the top-ranked poster in each college. This award has an undergraduate and a graduate tier. If the Dean's Award has been given to the top-ranked poster, the Outstanding Poster Award will be awarded to the second-highest-ranked poster. Winning presentations receive a $125 gift card. This award is divided evenly among co-presenters.
Outstanding Podium Presentation
This award is supported by the IUP Research Institute. The Outstanding Podium Presentation award is given to the top-ranked podium presentation in each college. This award has an undergraduate and a graduate tier. If the Dean's Award has been given to the top-ranked podium presentation, the Outstanding Presentation Award will be awarded to the second-highest-ranked podium presentation. Winning presentations receive a $125 gift card, which is divided evenly among co-presenters.
Kathleen Jones White Writing Center Award
This award recognizes students who demonstrate exemplary writing skills in their poster presentations. This award has an undergraduate and a graduate tier. Judges will pay attention to students' writing in terms of organization, clarity, and style appropriate to the audience. Graduate students are additionally judged on how well the writing demonstrates their critical thinking process, novelty, and contributions to the field. Winning presentations receive $125, which is divided evenly among co-presenters.
Excellence in Data Analysis Award
Sponsored by the Applied Research Lab, this award recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional data analysis skills in their poster presentations. This award has an undergraduate and graduate tier. Judges will give special attention and preference to posters with completed results or findings. Results or findings will be judged based on organization, clarity, and the appropriateness of the analytical technique(s) used. Graduate students are additionally judged on their presentation of how their results or findings contribute to the scholarly literature. Winning presentations receive a $125 gift card, which is divided evenly among co-presenters.
Sigma Xi Award
, the Scientific Research Honor Society, honors excellence in scientific investigation and encourages a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering. The Sigma Xi poster awards recognize superior research by students at IUP and are given to the best scientific research posters at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students are recognized with a certificate from Sigma Xi. No monetary award.
Any student with a poster in an area judged by Sigma Xi and exhibited at the Scholars Forum will be automatically entered. Sigma Xi research spans the disciplines of anthropology, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, geography, geoscience, mathematics, physics, and psychology. Posters will be judged on overall quality and how well student researchers demonstrate specific elements.
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Scientific Thought: requires a clear statement of the research problem and hypotheses, evidence of careful planning of the research, significance to the student's field, and an understanding of the ideas central to the research.
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Scientific Method: judges will look for evidence that the method of investigation is appropriate for the problem, sufficient data have been collected to justify the research results, the student's own work is clearly reflected in the project, and journal citations and references are included. Projects demonstrating more student effort and involvement will be favored over short-term projects.
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Communication: presentation is clearly understood, well organized and easy to follow, neat and professional, includes an abstract, and is enhanced by the visuals displayed.
S-COAM Award
The S-COAM Award is given by for the best computational poster at the IUP Scholars Forum. All science posters are evaluated for the computational nature of the project undertaken, with no additional submission necessary. Higher scores are given to posters where advanced skills are needed, such as writing the computational framework or developing the software used in the project. Intermediate scores are given for using advanced features of existing software, and lower scores include using standard analysis tools and spreadsheets. Preference will be given to projects demonstrating that students have done much of the computational development.
This award is sponsored by the Scholarship-Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics program (S-COAM), which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Students are recognized with a certificate and a copy of the student version of MATLAB for research.
IUP Libraries’ Research Award
IUP Libraries is dedicated to providing researchers with the resources, spaces, and services necessary to enable them to carry out high-quality research and inquiry. The IUP Libraries' Awards for Undergraduate and Graduate Research were created to recognize excellence in scholarly work based on a foundation of careful background research and literature review in projects submitted to the Scholars Forum. If chosen to receive a library research award, students will receive a certificate and prize.
Students must use the link below to be considered for the libraries' research award:
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