Judging of papers, platform presentations and posters will occur at ECSC 2004.
Papers should be sent directly to Professor Evans by the deadline date. In accordance with past experience, all names and institutions on papers will be removed or blacked out. Papers will be sent to an institution within ECSC members for impartial ranking of papers. Based upon the ranking, awards for papers will be presented. The number of awards is not fixed but is based on the ranking.
Platform and poster presentations will be judged by impartial judges according to the guidelines at the ECSC website. Judges will be recruited from outside the member institutions of ECSC. The number of awards is not fixed before the conference and will depend upon the quality of the presentations.
Dr. Lance Evans, the organizer for ECSC 2004, is of the opinion that 90% of the papers and presentations will be excellent so that only the exceptional papers and presentations will receive awards. For ECSC 2004, there may be fewer awards than in the past several years. This result should not be construed as an indicator that the presentations are poorer than in past years. It has been noted that many Board of Directors of ECSC have expressed negative feelings about awards. In addition, some students perceive that students who receive awards are much better than students that do not receive awards. This perception is incorrect. The quality of presentations at ECSC conferences in the past decade have increased so dramatically, that judges have a difficult task in naming one outstanding presentation. Judging of student papers and presentations has become the most challenging part of the program. Many Board members feel this imbalance and feel that emphasis should be placed elsewhere.