The deadline for the 2013 DUJS International Science Essay Competition has passed. Please note that because of the high volume of submissions this year, only the winners and their sponsoring teachers will be notified by email on or before October 31st. The list of winners and their winning essays will be posted on or before December 1st.
The prompt for our 2014 ISEC essay competition will be posted in the Spring.
Update 10/3/2013: Submissions are currently being processed. We will be updating this page and our Facebook with notes of our progress.
Eligibility Requirements:
All high school students and international equivalents are invited to submit an essay about the recent effects and future promises of science in our society. Write about particular discoveries, events, or persons from science in current events or present a more general account of the changes and developments. Each essay must be accompanied by a statement of acknowledged validity by a teacher in the field of the sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics.
Students must submit their essays and entry forms electronically on or before the contest deadline of September 30th, 2013.
Students who have family members affiliated with the Journal, or serving as contest judges are not eligible to participate.
2013 ISEC Prompt:
Scientific dilemmas today occur on a global stage and require international cooperation. Please choose one pressing scientific issue and explain: the problem as it exists today, the point it can reach before action must be taken, some potential courses of action to combat the problem, and the global implications of solving or avoiding the issue.
Topic suggestions include, but are not limited to: alternative energy sources, global climate change, increased rate of species extinction, and development of extreme weather conditions. Note that judges look favorably on unique topics.
- No literary form other than an essay will be accepted.
- Each essay must reflect the contestant’s own writing and original thinking.
- No graphs, images, or illustrations should be included in the essay
Awards:
The author of the winning essay will receive a $500 monetary award in addition to having their winning essay published in the Fall 2013 print issue of Journal. In addition, three runner-ups will be selected. The winning and runner-up essays will be featured on the Journal website at sites.dartmouth.edu/dujs.
The winner and the runner-ups will receive a certificate and a print copy of the Fall 2013 issue of the Journal.
For essay examples from last year’s winners, please click here.
Contest Regulations:
All essays must comply with the following contest rules before submission:
- Each contestant may submit only one (1) essay.
- Each contestant must complete, scan, and attach a student entry form
- Teachers must verify and sign the verification of authenticity on the student entry form.
- The essay is limited to 1500 – 2000 words, 12-point font, double-spaced, Times New Roman, numbered pages with one-inch margins. The title page and works cited sections are not included in the word count.
- The Student Entry Form should be scanned and saved as a .pdf, .jpeg, or .png file.
- Each essay must include a title page, not counted towards the 1500-2000 word limit, with the following information:
- Essay title
- Author’s name
- Author’s grade
- Author’s email
- Name of school
- School address
- School telephone number
- Total number of pages of essay (excluding references and title)
- Name of supervising teacher
- Email of supervising teacher
- The title of the essay and the page number MUST appear on header of every page of essay text.
- References should be included and clearly identified.
- No images should be included
- Any references and citations used must follow the APA or Science citation format, which could be found here.
- If you have chemical structures in your article, please take note of the American Chemical Society (ACS)’s specifications of the diagrams.
- Name submission in the following format: ISEC_LastName_Topic.docx
- Example: ISEC_Johnson_ScienceandSociety.docx
- The essay must be sent via e-mail to dujs@dartmouth.edu with the subject line DUJS ISEC SUBMISSION.
It must be attached to the email in conjunction with the essay.
Entries must be received on or before September 30th, 2013. The authors retain all rights to their original work, with the exception that they grant the Journal the exclusive right to publish their work in print and online. Articles may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Journal. The Journal will not consider work that has been previously published or is under review for publication by another publication. In addition, work submitted to the Journal for consideration may not be concurrently submitted to another publication.
Link to Student Entry Form/Teacher Verification:
Judging
The Journal editorial staff will judge the essays using five criteria, including comprehension, organization, conclusions, creativity, and writing. All winners and their sponsoring teachers will be notified by email on or before October 31st, 2013.
Questions
Please send any and all questions to dujs@dartmouth.edu with the subject line “DUJS ISEC QUESTION.”
Privacy Policy:
The information you provide, including name, grade, email, address, phone number name of school, school address, school telephone number, and contact information, will not be sold or distributed in any manner and will be used solely by the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science (DUJS), at the discretion of DUJS. DUJS reserves the right to post the winning essays on the DUJS website, DUJS Facebook page, as well as any other media platform representing DUJS. We do not collect information from site visitors.
The winners will be notified 1 (one) time via the e-mail address provided in their entry form. DUJS is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify potential winner. Winners must notify DUJS within 10 (ten) business days of receiving notification of award to redeem their prize. If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within 15 days from the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return a completed and executed declaration and releases as required, prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected.
By accepting and/or using prize, winner consents to the use of his/her name, voice and/or likeness for the purpose of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law and upon request will provide such consent in writing.