Graduate Student Call for Competition Presentations

DUE DATE: Abstracts and ancillary materials must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, February 12, 2025

CALL FOR GRADUATE STUDENT COMPETITION PRESENTATIONS

Build your CV, hone your science, and gain exposure to colleagues, mentors, and employers by entering the student competitions!

GENERAL INFORMATION

The ADSA Graduate Student Oral Presentation and Poster Presentation competitions will be held in both the Dairy Foods and Production Divisions of ADSA. The Production Division will have both oral and poster contests, with an MS and PhD division in each. Students can compete in only one national competition each year.

A certificate and cash award will be presented to the first-, second-, and third-place winners in each division.

All participants must

  • Be current members of ADSA (membership is only $10!)
  • Register for the meeting by April 4, 2025 and attend the meeting in person
  • Submit a headshot photograph 
  • Submit a brief résumé, including name, address, telephone number, degrees and date received, professional work experience, areas of research, scholarships and fellowships received, professional activities and memberships, and other special interests. The résumés will be used to write the citations of the winners.

IMPORTANT

Please refer to the complete abstract submission instructions and ADSA quality standards for abstracts before submitting your work!  

Competitors must select their subject area as the first preference, and their chosen competition as their second preference, when submitting their abstract.

Some requirements for abstract submission differ between the production and foods divisions. Consult the information below for specific instructions and requirements pertaining to individual competitions in the appropriate division.

If you need clarification of, or additional information on, abstract quality or submission, please contact us at abstracts@assochq.org.

2025 ADSA GRADUATE STUDENT COMPETITIONS

National ADSA Dairy Foods Division Oral Competition
National ADSA Dairy Foods Division Poster Competition
National ADSA Production Division Oral Competition (MS or PhD) *
National ADSA Production Division Poster Competition (MS or PhD)

*Starting in 2024, the ADSA Southern Branch Oral Competition was be combined with the Production Division Oral MS and PhD competitions. The top-ranking competitors from Southern universities will be recognized as the winners of the Southern Branch competition. Competitors must be Southern Branch members to be eligible.

PRODUCTION DIVISION ORAL COMPETITIONS (MS and PhD)

An institution is entitled to enter one participant per department in each of the MS and PhD Production Division oral competitions.

Students who have placed first, second, or third previously may not enter this contest type again unless they change degree programs (i.e., MS winners can later compete in the PhD competition). Students can, however, compete in the poster competition at the same degree level in different years.

Contestants must submit an oral entry for the competition:

  • Competitors are required to present their competition entry in a regular general oral session in order to compete in the production division graduate oral competition.
  • The judging sessions will be held in a virtual meeting format within two weeks prior to the Annual Meeting.

ABSTRACT

Presentations must represent original research by the contestant, and should receive counsel from the major professor in developing the plan of research and preparing for the presentation.

To enter the contest, follow the instructions for submitting an abstract.

During abstract submission, select the appropriate general session subject area as the “First Section Preference”, and the chosen competition as the “Second Section Preference”. 

Abstracts is not selected as finalists to participate in the competition will be scheduled for a general oral or poster session according to the subject area listed as “First Section Preference”.

ANCILLARY MATERIALS

In addition to the abstract, students must submit:

  • a letter indicating the appropriate division and desire to enter the contest, signed by the major professor and department head, as well as
  • a brief résumé (see General Information above) and a photograph. This letter should be uploaded at the time of abstract submission in the file upload section shown during the abstract submission process. 

IMPORTANT: The ancillary materials should be uploaded as either a single PDF file that contains all requested materials or a single ZIP file that contains all documents. Do not upload more than one file.

If the file is unable to be uploaded in the abstract submission, please complete the submission without it and then email the letter, one copy of the abstract, including the online submission tracking number, a brief résumé (see General Information above), and a headshot/photograph, to abstracts@assochq.org.

Abstracts missing Ancillary Materials will be ineligible for competition.

PRESENTING

In addition to presenting in a regular general oral session, each contest participant will be assigned a presentation time during the virtual judging session, which will occur within two weeks before the Annual Meeting.

During the virtual judging session, you will have 12 minutes for presentation in front of the judges, after which, you will have 3 minutes of Q&A with the judges.

SCORING

Please see the COMPETITION SCORECARDS section for scoring criteria.

PRODUCTION DIVISION POSTER COMPETITIONS (MS and PhD)

An institution is entitled to enter two participants per department in each of the MS and PhD Production Division poster competitions.

Students who have placed first, second, or third previously may not enter this contest type again unless they change degree programs (i.e., MS winners can later compete in the PhD competition). Students can, however, compete in the oral competition at the same degree level.

Contestants must submit a poster entry for the competition. Contestants are not required to present in both the poster competition and a general section, but may do so if desired. See abstract submission details below. Contestants are required to be present during the Monday morning poster session to present their competition poster.

ABSTRACT

The posters must represent original research by the contestant. In developing the plan of research and preparing for the presentation, the contestant should have such counsel from the major professor as is normally expected. 

To enter the contest, follow the instructions for submitting an abstract.

During abstract submission, select the appropriate general session subject area as the “First Section Preference”, and the chosen competition as the “Second Section Preference”. 

Abstracts is not selected as finalists to participate in the competition will be scheduled for a general poster session according to the subject area listed as “First Section Preference”.

Also, at the time of abstract submission, if you wish to present in a general poster or oral session in addition to the poster competition, you must email preferred general session subject area and presentation type with your name, title, and abstract tracking number to abstracts@assochq.org.

ANCILLARY MATERIALS

In addition to the abstract, students must submit:

  • a letter indicating the appropriate division and desire to enter the contest, signed by the major professor and department head, as well as
  • a brief résumé (see General Information above) and a photograph. This letter should be uploaded at the time of abstract submission in the file upload section shown during the abstract submission process. 

IMPORTANT: The ancillary materials should be uploaded as either a single PDF file that contains all requested materials or a single ZIP file that contains all documents. Do not upload more than one file.

If the file is unable to be uploaded in the abstract submission, please complete the submission without it and then email the letter, one copy of the abstract, including the online submission tracking number, a brief résumé (see General Information above), and a headshot/photograph, to abstracts@assochq.org.

Abstracts missing Ancillary Materials will be ineligible for competition.

PRESENTING

All poster competitions will occur during the Monday morning poster session Each in-person poster presentation will be scheduled for public viewing for the entire day, with the presenting authors available during the open poster time. All posters should be mounted on the board 30 minutes before the day’s session. Please review the poster presentation information.

During the Monday poster session, each contestant will be assigned a time for all the judges to visit the poster at the same time. Judges will have approximately 10 minutes to ask the student questions about the poster.

SCORING

Please see the COMPETITION SCORECARDS section for scoring criteria.

DAIRY FOODS DIVISION ORAL COMPETITION

There is no restriction on the number of participants from an institution for the Dairy Foods Division Oral Competition.

Upon review of the abstract submissions, up to 10 finalists will be selected for the Dairy Foods Division Graduate Oral Competition.

Contestants must submit an oral entry for the competition. Finalists are required to present their competition entry in the Dairy Foods Division Graduate Oral Competition session, on Monday, June 23, 2025.

ABSTRACT

Presentations must represent original research by the contestant. In developing the plan of research and preparing for the presentation, the contestant should have such counsel from the major professor as is normally expected.

To enter the contest, follow the instructions for submitting an abstract.  

During abstract submission, select the appropriate general session subject area as the “First Section Preference”, and the chosen competition as the “Second Section Preference”.

Abstracts is not selected as finalists to participate in the competition will be scheduled for a general oral or poster session according to the subject area listed as “First Section Preference”.

ANCILLARY MATERIALS

In addition to the abstract, students must submit:

  • a letter indicating the appropriate division and desire to enter the contest, signed by the major professor and department head, as well as
  • a brief résumé (see General Information above) and a photograph. This letter should be uploaded at the time of abstract submission in the file upload section shown during the abstract submission process. 

IMPORTANT: The ancillary materials should be uploaded as either a single PDF file that contains all requested materials or a single ZIP file that contains all documents. Do not upload more than one file.

If the file is unable to be uploaded in the abstract submission, please complete the submission without it and then email the letter, one copy of the abstract, including the online submission tracking number, a brief résumé (see General Information above), and a headshot/photograph, to abstracts@assochq.org.

Abstracts missing Ancillary Materials will be ineligible for competition.

The selected finalists for the Dairy Foods Oral Competition will also be required to submit an extended abstract by email to Ni Cheng by June 6, 2025. The extended abstract (typed, single-spaced) will consist of a 1-page Introduction, 1-page Materials and Methods, and 2 pages of Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (no more than 4 pages total).

The submitted abstracts will be evaluated by a committee, and up to 10 finalists will be selected for the Dairy Foods Division Graduate Oral Competition. The selected finalists will be notified by May 30, 2025.

PRESENTING

Contestants selected as finalists will give their presentations in the oral competition session, on Monday, June 23, 2025. Contestants not selected as finalists will present their papers as part of the Dairy Foods regular oral or poster sessions.

Each finalist will have 12 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes of Q&A with the judges.  

SCORING

Please see the COMPETITION SCORECARDS section for scoring criteria and point distribution for the expanded abstract and oral presentation. 

DAIRY FOODS DIVISION POSTER COMPETITION

There is no restriction on the number of participants from an institution for the Dairy Foods Division Poster Competition.

The poster presenter can present only one poster during the poster competition, and contestants must submit a poster entry for the competition. Finalists are required to present their competition entry in the Dairy Foods Division Poster Competition session, on Monday, June 23, 2025.

ABSTRACT

The posters must represent original research by the contestant. In developing the plan of research and preparing for the presentation, the contestant should have such counsel from the major professor as is normally expected. 

To enter the contest, follow the instructions for submitting an abstract. 

During abstract submission, select the appropriate general session subject area as the “First Section Preference”, and the chosen competition as the “Second Section Preference”. 

Abstracts is not selected as finalists to participate in the competition will be scheduled for a general poster session according to the subject area listed as “First Section Preference”.

Also, at the time of abstract submission, if you wish to present in a general poster or oral session in addition to the poster competition, you must email preferred general session subject area and presentation type with your name, title, and abstract tracking number to abstracts@assochq.org.

ANCILLARY MATERIALS

In addition to the abstract, students must submit

  • a letter indicating the appropriate division and desire to enter the contest, signed by the major professor and department head, as well as
  • a brief résumé (see General Information above) and a photograph. This letter should be uploaded at the time of abstract submission in the file upload section shown during the abstract submission process. 

IMPORTANT: The ancillary materials should be uploaded as either a single PDF file that contains all requested materials or a single ZIP file that contains all documents. Do not upload more than one file.

If the file is unable to be uploaded in the abstract submission, please complete the submission without it and then email the letter, one copy of the abstract, including the online submission tracking number, a brief résumé (see General Information above), and a headshot/photograph, to abstracts@assochq.org.

Abstracts missing Ancillary Materials will be ineligible for competition.

PRESENTING

All poster competitions will occur during the morning poster session on Monday, June 23, 2025. Each in-person poster presentation will be scheduled for public viewing for the entire day, with the presenting authors available during the open posters time. All posters should be mounted on the board 30 minutes before the day’s session (posters open at 7:30 a.m.). See the poster presentation guidelines.

During the Monday poster session, each contestant will be assigned a time for all the judges to visit the poster at the same time. Judges will have approximately 10 minutes to ask the student questions about the poster.

SCORING

Please see the COMPETITION SCORECARDS section for scoring criteria.

COMPETITION SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

If, after reading these instructions, you have any questions regarding the Graduate Student Competitions, please send an email to abstracts@assochq.org.

GRADUATE STUDENT COMPETITION SCORECARDS

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