Student Paper Competition

The INFORMS Health Applications Society (HAS) welcomes students who are conducting research in health care applications to submit a single paper to its student paper competition. Applicants are also encouraged to submit their work for presentation at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA, October 26-29, 2025.

There are three conditions for eligibility:

1. Entrant must be a student on or after May 1, 2025, and the research in the paper must have been conducted while the entrant was a student.
2. The submitted paper must present original research conducted primarily by the student. The paper can be co-authored with other individuals including the advisor(s) of the student. However, the student's contribution must be such that they are considered the "first author", alphabetical authorship notwithstanding.
3. Entrant must be a member of HAS on the date of submission (call INFORMS Member Services at 1-800-446-3676 or see connect.informs.org/healthapplications/home for information on membership).  

Selection and Awards:

Leading health care scholars will serve as judges. They will evaluate the papers based on quality, novelty and importance of methodology, contribution to health care research, and potential for impact on practice. Four finalists will be selected and notified. Finalists must register for the INFORMS Annual Meeting and present their work in a special session at the conference. Presentation quality will be considered in deciding the first and second prize winners. Winners will be announced during the conference. The awards are: First Prize: $750; Second Prize: $500; Finalist: $250 each.

Application Process: 

The application should include the following materials:

1. Cover letter (PDF) signed by both the student and advisor that includes:

• Name, affiliation, and contact information of the student, advisor, and other co-authors
• The paper title
• Up to three keywords that describe the application area and up to three keywords that describe the main methodologies used
• A statement attesting to the fact that the eligibility requirements are met
• The filename of the submitted cover letter should be EntrantLastName_CoverLetter.pdf

2. Paper (PDF) that meets the following criteria:

• The paper should be completely anonymous. Author(s) names and affiliations should not appear in the paper.
• The formatting standards for submitting a paper to INFORMS journals apply.  See pubsonline.informs.org/page/mnsc/submission-guidelines
• 30-page limit (1.5 line spacing) including the main body, figures, tables, and any appendices, but excluding the list of references. The statements of theorems, propositions, and other technical results may be given in the main body, but all proofs of technical results as well as supplementary figures/tables should be presented in appendices.
• The filename of the submitted paper should be ShortTitleOfThePaper.pdf

Please submit both items as e-mail attachments or any questions that you may have to HAS.bestpaper.2025@gmail.com. Complete entries must be received on or before Friday (midnight EST), May 30, 2025.

Good luck to all entrants!

Osman Ozaltin (North Carolina State University) and Sait Tunc (Virginia Tech)

Co-Chairs, 2025 INFORMS HAS Student Paper Competition