Description

The MCDM Junior Researcher Best Paper Award recognizes outstanding papers in the field of multicriteria decision making written by a junior researcher or a team of junior researchers. The Award is given every year at the INFORMS Annual Meeting during an MCDM Awards Session.

Purpose: The purpose of the MCDM Junior Researcher Best Paper Award is to

  1. Honor the junior academic researchers and practitioners who work in the area of MCDM for their excellence, creativity, and innovation.
  2. Encourage students to work in the area of MCDM.
  3. Strengthen the visibility of MCDM within INFORMS.
  4. Increase the awareness of the INFORMS community about the significance of MCDM in academic, government, private and public sectors.
  5. Recognize the impact of MCDM on solving challenging real-life problems of importance to society.

Eligibility:  A candidate or a team of candidates eligible for the Award must satisfy the following conditions:

  1. A candidate must be the single author or the leading coauthor of an article. A team of candidates must consist of the leading coauthors of an article.
  2. The article must be written in the English language and published electronically in a peer-reviewed journal within the period of three years by the 1st of January of the year of the Award. All candidates must be within seven years of their Ph.D. graduation by the 1st of January of the year of the Award.
  3. All candidates must be members of the MCDM Section of INFORMS.

Nomination: Candidates for the Award shall be nominated by a member of the MCDM Section of INFORMS. Self-nominations or nominations by a coauthor of the paper are not allowed. In a given year, each candidate can be nominated for only one paper. The same paper can be nominated multiple times unless it has been selected as a finalist paper in a previous year. Another paper by an author or coauthor of a finalist paper may be nominated for the Award in a subsequent year. An individual can nominate more than one paper.

Application process: The nominations for the Award shall be submitted by email to the Chair of the Judging Committee by the date indicated by the Chair in the call for candidates. The nominations will be handled as confidential input to be used only for the purpose of the Award.  The nomination package shall include the following documents all in pdf format:

  1. A nomination letter (maximum 2 pages) that contains
    1. information on the nominating individual (name, affiliation, email address, and his/her relationship with the nominee);
    2. a statement affirming that the nominating individual is a member of the MCDM Section of INFORMS;
    3. the bibliographic reference of the nominated article;
    4. an explicit description of how the nominated paper meets the evaluation criteria.

    If the nominee is not the single author of the article, the letter shall include a statement affirming that he/she is the leading coauthor with an indication of the source of this information.

    If the team of nominees are not the only coauthors of the article, the letter shall include a statement affirming that the nominees are the leading coauthors with an indication of the source of this information.

  2. The nominated article.
  3. Each nominee’s cv (maximum 3 pages) with a statement that the nominee is a member of the MCDM Section.
  4. Proof of each nominee’s PhD degree or equivalent degree with the date of earning the degree.

A nominated paper may simultaneously be considered for other competitions.

Judging committee: The Judging Committee consists of all members of the Board of the MCDM Section. The Past President of the MCDM Section, who is a member of the Board, serves as the Chair of the Judging Committee. The Chair is always present at the Annual INFORMS Meeting and the members of the Judging Committee shall attend the Meeting. If there are fewer than three members in attendance, the Chair invites Section members approved by the Board to serve on the Judging Committee during the Meeting.

Judging criteria: The following three judging criteria will be applied to evaluate the nominees’ papers. (1) Novelty in theoretical, methodological, or applied research in the area of MCDM; (2) Relevance to real-life applications; (3) Potential impact of the obtained results on society.

Judging process: By the end of April of the year of the Award, the Judging Committee shall select three finalists (individuals or representatives of teams). To be eligible to be selected as the final winner, the finalists are required to give a presentation in the MCDM Awards Session at the Annual INFORMS Meeting the same year.

Award: The final winner will obtain a cash award of $500 while all finalists who are not selected as the final winner will obtain an honorable mention. The final winner and honorable mentions will be announced and awarded during the MCDM Section Business Meeting at the Annual INFORMS Meeting.