Slepecky Prize Guidelines

The Norma Slepecky Research Prize is endowed in memory of Professor Norma Slepecky, a distinguished auditory neuroanatomist, by her family, friends, and colleagues. This year, the prize is expanding to a regional symposium and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Women students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Eligibility

Who can apply

Students are eligible to compete for the Slepecky Prize if their research projects are based in the full range of applied biological and engineering sciences and the natural sciences. These include audiology, bioengineering, communication sciences and disorders, neuroscience, bio-inspired technology, and psychology (including their clinical applications), and in the natural sciences: biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics.

Two prizes are awarded:

Requirements

Enrollment

The research project must be completed under the direction of faculty at a recognized university or research laboratory. Students from Syracuse University and from regional institutions across Upstate New York are eligible to apply.

If a student submits documents from a research opportunity conducted under the direction of a researcher at a different institution, the student should provide letters of support from both the research lead and a faculty member at their home institution.

Documents

Students are required to submit documentary evidence of their research. The research must be conducted prior to the submission date. Acceptable documentation includes any of the following:

Honors or senior thesis (or equivalent graduate research document). If an early submission date precedes the completion of a thesis, a near-final draft with a statement of expected completion included in the faculty nomination letter is an acceptable substitute.

Text of a paper submitted as senior author to a peer-reviewed archival journal. Senior authorship conventions differ by discipline; the intent is that the student contributed substantially and was in a leadership role in the research and writing. The faculty advisor should confirm senior authorship in the nomination letter.

Published or accepted abstract for a scientific or professional society meeting, combined with the text of the oral or poster presentation. Poster presentations should be PDFs of the poster and associated text. Charts that are not legible at small size should be attached in an appendix.

A past awardee may submit again only with a new aspect of the research and a new paper; it cannot be an expanded or edited version of a prior submission. A student who did not win previously may resubmit materials from the prior competition year.

Please note that documents disseminated via electronic publishing only are not eligible as documentary evidence.

Nomination letter

A letter of nomination from the student’s faculty research advisor is required. The letter should confirm that the student is in good academic standing, contributed substantially to the research as a senior author, note any awards earned, and provide a rationale and endorsement for consideration.

If the research was conducted under a researcher not affiliated with the student’s home institution, that researcher may submit the nomination, but a faculty member from the student’s home institution should also provide a supplemental letter endorsing the nomination and confirming the validity of the experience and the student’s standing.

Submission packet

Through the online nomination form, you will upload:

• The primary research document(s) to be reviewed
• A cover letter from the student
• A brief resume or CV
• The faculty nomination letter

The cover letter should include the student’s contact information, a brief introduction, a research overview, an outline of the particular aspects of the research being presented, a summary of findings, and a rationale for why the work is important. It should also note where the research was presented or published.

Apply

Submit your nomination

All nominations are submitted online. Please have your research document, resume or CV, and nomination letter ready to upload.

Submit a nomination

Questions can be directed to suwise@syr.edu.