Co-chairs:
The INFORMS DEI Best Student Paper Award honors outstanding papers on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-related issues using OR/MS methodologies and written by a student member. The prizes will be awarded at the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting, and all finalists will be invited to present their paper at a special session sponsored by the DEI Committee.
Purpose of the Award
INFORMS DEI Student Paper Competition identifies and honors outstanding papers related to DEI (including social justice) with significant societal impact, conducted by student members in operations research and management sciences. The award recognizes high-quality research among the broader INFORMS community, focusing on improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and fairness using OR/MS methodologies. The papers should address some aspect of DEI issues (see https://connect.informs.org/diversity/home) on age, belief system, disability status, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, race, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and any other visible or non-visible differences. Research that addresses systemic inequities is also welcome; for example, workforce scheduling models that produce schedules that are fair for all workers, resource allocation models that aim to compensate for historical and systemic inequities among demographic groups, or healthcare screening models that account for differences among genders, racial/ethnic groups, etc.
Important Dates
June 15, 2024: Application submission deadline
October 20-23, 2024: Winners announcement during the Annual Conference
Eligibility
The following conditions must be met for eligibility:
- The entrant must have been a student on or after June 1, 2023, and must be a member of INFORMS at the date of submission.
- The paper must present original research conducted primarily by the student (a summary of multiple papers is not eligible). The submitted paper may be based on research that has already been submitted or published but must adhere to the specified page limit and formatting requirements.
- The research must have been conducted while the entrant was a student.
- The paper may have one or more co-authors, but the student's contributions must make up the majority of the paper (>50%). In the nomination letter, the advisor must explicitly comment upon and specify the percentage of the student’s contribution:
- in defining the problem and initiating the research that resulted in the paper;
- in conducting the research itself that resulted in the paper;
- in writing the paper.
- An entrant can be a (co-)author in at most one paper submitted to the competition. Only one entrant per paper is allowed, and the same paper cannot be submitted by multiple entrants.
- This paper may not have been a winner, runner-up, or honorable mention in any other INFORMS award.
Submission Requirements
- The entire paper (including the bibliography, appendices, figures, etc.) must not exceed 20 pages, with 1.5 line spacing and 12-point type. The paper must be written in English. The paper should be blind, i.e., there should be no authors’ names and affiliations; self-citations should be done in a manner that does not reveal the authors' identity; and no references to grants, full version, or other online versions should be present. The filename of the submitted paper should be ShortTitleOfThePaper.pdf (whatever the short title of your paper is).
- The application must also contain a nomination letter from the student's advisor(s) that certifies that all eligibility requirements have been met. The nomination letter should also include the title of the paper, the name and affiliations of all co-authors, and contact information for the entrant, and should specify whether the paper has been published or is currently under review. The filename of the submitted nomination letter should be EntrantLastName_NominationLetter.pdf.
Application Process
All student entrants must submit their work by June 15, 2024, through the INFORMS award website.
A complete entry consists of (1) one self-contained blind paper in the specified format (papers not satisfying the format will not be accepted), and (2) a nomination letter.
The Awards and Presentations
Up to six awards (first-place, second-place, third-place, and up to three finalists) may be given upon recommendation of the award committee. The award committee reserves the right not to give any awards. The first place carries a cash award of $750, second place $500, third place $250, and each finalist $100. In addition, all winners and finalists will be awarded certificates.
The finalists will be invited to present their papers in special sessions sponsored by the DEI Committee at the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting.
Further Information
For further information about the nomination process or the award, please contact the award committee co-chairs, Dr. Zeyu Liu (zeyu.liu@mail.wvu.edu) or Albert S. Berahas (aberahas@umich.edu).