Join
forensic-science-foundation-square-logo-page-identifier

Emerging Forensic Scientist Award

To nurture a productive dialogue between emerging judicial and forensic standards of reliability and validity, the Forensic Sciences Foundation is pleased to offer the Annual Emerging Forensic Scientist Award. The award will be presented to the author of the best paper on any topic focusing on the reliability and validity of techniques, processes, or methods in a forensic area of the author's choice.

Back to FSF

Award

The award will cover the expense of the recipient's attendance at the AAFS. Annual Scientific Conference the year following the presentation. Expenses include registration, up to $1,000 for airfare, lodging while in attendance at the annual conference not to exceed five nights, and up to $75 per diem. A commemorative award will be presented to the award winner at the AAFS Annual Conference.

Eligibility and Submission Requirements:

  • Entrants must be either a Student Affiliate or Trainee Affiliate.
  • All entrants must be within three (3) years of completion of formal training at the time the presentation is made. Formal training is defined as either enrollment in an undergraduate/graduate program in the forensic sciences or a training program within a forensic science laboratory. Entrants must provide proof of this requirement from a professor or laboratory director.
  • In the case of multiple contributors to a presentation, only the presenter (the entrant) is eligible for the award. Substitute presenters will not be accepted after the application is submitted. The entrant should be the sole presenter of the paper.
  • Entrants should submit an abstract of the proposed paper to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Program Committee by August 1, in compliance with AAFS abstract criteria, and indicate that the abstract is submitted for the Emerging Forensic Scientist Award. Click Yes when asked, "Is the abstract a candidate for the FSF Emerging Forensic Scientists Award (EFSA)?"  

Selection Process

Initial review and acceptance/rejection of the abstract will be completed by the AAFS Program Committee, which will focus specifically on the abstract's treatment of reliability and validity issues. Multiple abstracts may be submitted for the Program Committee's review; however, once the Program Committee approves abstracts for presentation, one abstract must be designated by the presenter as an EFSA entry. If multiple abstracts are submitted for review and one abstract is not designated by the presenter as an EFSA entry, none of the abstracts will be considered by the EFSA Review Committee.

The EFSA Review Committee will be scheduled for presentation during the scientific session of the section that accepted the abstract, and evaluated by representatives of the Multidisciplinary Awards Committee appointed by the Forensic Sciences Foundation Board of Trustees. Announcement of the winning entry will be made through the Academy Newsfeed following The Annual Conference. 

Submission Deadline:

The abstract submission deadline is August 1