The Robert W. Stephen's Memorial Award is available to young scientists (grad students, post doctoral fellows or beginning scientists) involved in research relevant to the aims of the association. The award supports travel and attendance costs for young scientists to present the results of their research at the annual CWPA convention.
Proposed Conditions or Terms of Reference:
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The award is merit based and designed to inform the membership of ongoing research; it also allows young scientists, who might not otherwise attend CWPA, to present their research at the annual conference, thereby meeting others in the field as well as potential employers.
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The award is open to members and non-members of CWPA.
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The award is meant for entry level researchers including graduate students, post doctoral fellows and other researchers within the first 3 years of full time employment.
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The amount of the award is $1,000.
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One or more awards may be given at the discretion of the Awards Committee and the Board of Directors; all decisions are final.
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There is no limit to the number of applications from an individual institution.
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The R.W. Stephens award can only be granted once to an individual.
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Successful applicants must present their research at the conference and prepare a paper for the conference proceedings and participate fully throughout the whole conference (the final condition may be waived in exceptional circumstances).
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The cost of conference registration including scheduled conference meals will be waived for successful applicants.
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Successful applicants will also be acknowledged at the annual meeting and presented with a certificate and awarded one year's membership to the CWPA.
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R.W. Stephen's award applications must be submitted to the CWPA by June 1, preceding the annual conference.
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Applicants will be informed of the results of the competition, normally by June 15.Successful applicants must confirm acceptance within two weeks of being informed of the decision.
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Applicants must provide the following information:
- Name, address, email address, telephone number;
- CV including educational background, professional experience and publications;
- Proposed paper title and abstract;
- Discussion of the scientific or technical impact of the research.
GUIDELINES FOR REVIEWERS OF STUDENT AWARD PAPERS
The CWPA offers awards each year to students who submit papers for consideration by a panel of reviewers. Normally two prizes are awarded: the Robert E. Stephens Award is the first prize and a prize is offered to the runner up.
1. Eligibility
To be considered for an award a student must be either:
- in attendance at a recognized Canadian institute for higher learning, or:
- a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant studying at a foreign institute of higher learning.
Note: A non-Canadian student in a university outside Canada MAY be considered, but only if the Student’s supervisor is an active member of CWPA .
2. Objective of the award
The principal objective of the award is to encourage post graduate students to demonstrate how their research is relevant to the science and technology of wood preservation. Topics that could be considered are listed in Section 3 – criteria for judging papers
3. Criteria for judging papers:
- Relevance to wood preservation
The paper should relate to a topic that is significant in the science, technology or regulation of wood preservation. Typically, the paper would be expected to contain one or more of the items of which the following are examples:-
Efficacy
Leachability
Environmental impacts
Analytical methods
R & D of new chemical agents
Investigations of wood preservation mechanisms (biological and physico-chemical)
Health, Safety and Industrial Hygiene
Biological processes of wood decay
Environmental impact of wood treatment and/or of treated wood
Recycling wood waste
Improving the use of wood as a construction material and developing novel uses for wood
through the use of wood preservation processes
Pre-treating, treating or post-treatment processes
Fire retardants: fire behaviour of wood & wooden structures
By products of the combustion or pyrolysis of treated wood
Regulatory affairs
Non-chemical wood preservation, natural durability, improving durability by constructional
techniques
- Scientific content and quality
Significance: Does it address aspects of wood preservation that are of major importance, or does it
deal with peripheral issues?
Novelty: does the paper describe any new procedures or analytical methods?
Rigour:Has the student followed accepted procedures and protocols by recognized academic
authorities?
The paper should have a standard format:
Abstract
Introduction explaining scope and relevance of problem being investigated
Description of methods used in the investigation
Experimental results
Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgments as appropriate
List of references
4. Evaluation
The following points should be taken into consideration when evaluating the paper
Readability
How well does the student explain the significance of the work undertaken
Does the paper make clear how the results obtained validate the thesis presented in the
introduction
Originality of ideas and approach
Significance of application and advancement of science
Use of aids (diagrams and tables) to assist in getting the information across to the reader
Correct spelling and use of grammar.
5. Standardizing the evaluation.
To assist evaluating a paper, a table per the following example should be used to help standardize the evaluations made by the different reviewers
Title of paper |
Relevance |
Content |
Format |
Presentation |
Total |
|
Mark
/5 |
WF
3 |
Mark
/5 |
WF
4 |
Mark
/5 |
WF
1 |
Mark
/5 |
WF
2 |
/50 |
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WF = weighting factor, to take into account the relative importance of the different evaluation categories
Students who are interested in participating in the 2011 competition should submit their entries in electronic format to the CWPA, (c/o Ron Bobker, Everdry Forest Products Ltd, 226 Randall St., PO Box 127, Oakville, ON L6J 4Z5, e-mail: info@everdry.ca).
PAST ROBERT W. STEPHENS MEMORIAL AWARD WINNERS:
2009: Sedric Pankras (University of Toronto) Investigation of the distribution of copper ethanolamine complexes in Alkaline Copper Quat (ACQ) wood preservative.
2008: Amelie Janin (Universite du Quebec) "Optimization and economical study of a chemical leaching process for decontamination of CCA-treated wood waste".
2006: Christoph F. Schauwecker (Oregon State University) "The use of wood preservatives for phytosanitation: A penetration and emergance study".
2006: Mojgan Nejad (University of Toronto) "Improving the performance of wooden decks through coatings".
2004: Hucheng Qi (University of Toronto)
"The application of an accelerated hardening technique to recycle CCA-treated wood into wood-cement composites"
2003: Levi Waldron (University of Toronto)
"Prediction of long term leaching potential on inorganic wood preservatives by diffusion modelling"
