The young scientists (less than 41 years of age) among TIAFT members may apply for one of three awards of the Young Scientists Committee of TIAFT; the best oral presentation and best poster presentation by a Young Scientist during the TIAFT conference, and a prize for the best scientific paper published during the last 12 months.

See detailed guidelines below:

1. Oral Presentations

Abstracts for the best oral presentation must be submitted to the TIAFT YSC Secretary Dr Jim Gerostamoulos ( jimg@vifm.org ) and President Dr Thomas Kraemer ( thomas.kraemer@uniklinik-saarland.de ) by email.

All submissions must be received by the TIAFT YSC one month prior to the commencement of the annual TIAFT meeting. This gives the committee enough time to collate and distribute the submissions to other TIAFT YSC members for consideration.

Once you have received confirmation from the organizing committee of the annual TIAFT meeting that your oral presentation has been accepted, you should immediately submit your abstract to the TIAFT YSC. The abstract submitted to the TIAFT YSC must not differ from the abstract accepted for the meeting or it will be subject to disqualification. Late entries will not be accepted.

All oral presentations that have been submitted for consideration for the award will be announced by the moderator of the session prior to the actual presentation. This enables the audience to be informed that the upcoming presentation is to be assessed by the TIAFT YSC for Best Oral Presentation.

2. Award Assessment Criteria - Oral Presentation

The award for best oral presentation is based on a number of criteria and scored in each of the following categories:

1. Knowledge of subject material (i.e., Did the presentor include relevant information? Did they demonstrate an understanding of the topic? Did the author demonstrate advanced understanding or include any original scientific content/approach?)

2. Structure of presentation (i.e., Was there a logical structure to the presentation? Could the sequence of information and ideas be easily followed?)

3. Use of audio/visual material (i.e., Was audio/visual material appropriately used? Were presentation slides high quality and legible?)

4. Pace and timing, delivery style (i.e., Did the candidate keep to the agreed time limit? Was the delivery well-paced? Did the young scientist speak clearly?)

5. Ability to answer/respond to questions (i.e., Could the young scientist answer questions on the topic?)

All five categories are scored out of a maximum of 10 points for each category. An average of all scored categories is taken. The highest average scores by all committee members present at the meeting determine the winner for the Best Oral Presentation.

3. Poster Presentations

Abstracts for the best poster presentation must be submitted to the TIAFT YSC Secretary Dr Jim Gerostamoulos ( jimg@vifm.org ) and President Dr Thomas Kraemer ( thomas.kraemer@uniklinik-saarland.de ) by email. All submissions must be received by the TIAFT YSC one month prior to the commencement of the annual TIAFT meeting. This gives the committee enough time to collate and distribute the submissions to other TIAFT YSC members for consideration.

Once you have received confirmation from the organizing committee of the annual TIAFT meeting that your poster presentation has been accepted, you should immediately submit your abstract to the TIAFT YSC. The abstract submitted to the TIAFT YSC must not differ from the abstract accepted for the meeting or it will be subject to disqualification. Late entries will not be accepted.

All poster presentations that have been submitted for consideration for the award will be identified as such by the TIAFT YSC prior to the actual presentation. This enables the audience to be informed that a marked poster is to be assessed by the TIAFT YSC for Best Poster Presentation.

4. Award Assessment Criteria - Poster Presentation

The award for best poster presentation is based on a similar set of criteria to the oral award and scored in each of the following categories:

1. Knowledge of subject material (i.e., Did the presentation include relevant information? Did it demonstrate advanced understanding or include any original scientific content/approach?)

2. Structure of poster (i.e., Was there a logical structure to the poster presentation? Could the sequence of information and ideas be easily followed?)

3. Poster material (i.e., Was poster material appropriately used? Was the poster presentation of high quality, legibility and clarity?)

4. Ability to answer/respond to questions (i.e., Could the presenter answer questions on the topic? Did they demonstrate an understanding of the topic?)

All four categories are scored out of a maximum of 10 points for each category. An average of all scored categories is taken. The highest average scores by all committee members present at the meeting determine the winner for the Best Poster Presentation.

5. Best Published Paper Award

Abstracts for the best published paper award must be submitted to the TIAFT YSC Secretary Dr Jim Gerostamoulos ( jimg@vifm.org ) and President Dr Thomas Kraemer ( thomas.kraemer@uniklinik-saarland.de ) by email.

For the best published paper award, the candidate is not required to attend the annual meeting; although attendance is encouraged, if possible. All submissions must be received by the TIAFT YSC one month prior to the commencement of the annual TIAFT meeting to allow the committee enough time to collate and distribute the submissions to other TIAFT YSC members for consideration. Two bound volumes of all the papers (prepared by the TIAFT YSC Secretary) will be available at the registration desk of the annual meeting for perusal by all TIAFT meeting attendees. Late entries will not be accepted.

6. Award Assessment Criteria - Best Published Paper

The award for best published paper is based on the following categories:

1. Scientific content (i.e., Did the authors demonstrate advancement in the understanding of a discipline in forensic toxicology? Does the paper include any original scientific content/approach etc? Does it contribute to the forensic toxicology knowledge database?)

2. Structure of the paper (i.e., Was there a logical structure to the published paper? Could the sequence of information and analyses be easily followed? Does the discussion achieve its purpose? Are the conclusions justified? Is the paper adequately referenced?)

Both categories are scored out of 10 and a total out of 20 is scored. The paper with the highest average score by all committee members present at the meeting will be determined to be the winner for the Best Published Paper Award.