Best Student Paper Award

Award Details

The IIFET Best Student Paper Award includes:

  • Free student conference registration

  • Participant support for IIFET 2026 Faroe Islands

The award and certificate will be presented at the opening plenary session of the IIFET 2026 conference, held 17–21 August 2026 in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.

This award is sponsored by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must meet all of the following requirements:

  1. Be a student. A student is defined as:

    • Currently enrolled in a graduate program, or

    • Graduated no more than one year before 21 March 2026

  2. Be the primary author of the paper

  3. Submit a paper on an economic topic relevant to the conference themes

  4. Have an abstract accepted for oral presentation at IIFET 2026 Faroe Islands and have received the acceptance email

Please note: Students may apply to either the Best Student Paper Award or the Daniel K. Lew Best Paper Award, but not both.

Submission Process

  • Submission period: 1 February to 24 March 2026

  • Submit your paper by email to: [email protected] 

Formatting and Files

Papers must follow the IIFET 2026 Best Paper Formatting Rules. To ensure a blind review, submit two PDF files:

  1. Author information file

    • Paper title

    • All authors’ names, affiliations, titles, and contact information

    • Abstract

    • File name format: AuthorLastName + abstract number (example: Smith123.pdf)

  2. Blind review file

    • Paper title, abstract, full paper text, references, tables, and figures

    • No author names or identifying information

    • File name format: abstract number only (example: 123.pdf)

Student Status Attestation

You must also submit an Attestation of Student Status by the deadline. No reference letters are required.

The attestation must be signed and dated by your major professor or department chair and must include the following statement:

I attest that {student’s name} is currently a student at {department and university}, or graduated after 21 March 2025, and that {student’s name} is the primary author of the paper {paper title}. Primary author means the student is responsible for the main intellectual work, analysis, and writing.

Important Notes

  • Do not submit a paper unless your abstract has been accepted for oral presentation.

  • Only papers that follow the formatting rules will be reviewed.

  • Papers that do not meet length or formatting requirements will not be sent to the committee.

  • Questions should be sent to Kat Goetting ([email protected]) well before the deadline.

Participant Support

Participant support may be used for:

  • Airfare

  • Lodging

  • Meals and other approved expenses

Travel arrangements will follow Oregon State University travel rules. Some limits apply. 

Honourable Mention

The committee may award honorable mentions. Honorable mention recipients will receive a certificate and free conference registration but no financial award or travel support.

Conference Proceedings

Award winners are encouraged to submit their papers to the online conference proceedings. If journal submission rules do not allow full paper publication, authors may submit a shortened paper or extended abstract instead.