Selection Process

The selection of participants will be based exclusively on the quality of the proposals presented. Paper proposals will be selected by a group of NSTSU teachers, which will abide by the following rules:

• Paper proposal reading and grading is made independently by each teacher.

• The final score for each proposal will be given by an average of the grades each teacher gave to that particular paper proposal.

• Paper proposals will be ranked according to their final scores exclusively.

The criteria that teachers will follow in grading paper proposals are:

• Relevance to the overall title of the Interuniversity student Conference.

• Thesis.

• Argumentation.

• Overall structure of the proposed paper.

• Sources.

• English language and grammar usage.

Taking into account these six criteria, the Interuniversity student Conference Organization Committee is looking forward to identifying proposals that can be easily discussed are academically strong and accessible to a broad audience, and that show an ability to write a solid paper and participate in the Interuniversity student Conference in English.

For additional information on drafting your proposal, please refer to the Guidelines for Writing Interuniversity student Conference Proposals.

Applicants will be notified of the selection results by the Interuniversity student Conference Organization Committee before Monday, May 19, 2010. Following the notification of acceptance, selected students will have to write papers of up to 6,000 words and prepare oral Interuniversity student Conference presentations that would be no longer than 10 minutes.

Best Paper and Best Presentation Awards:

There will be an award for the Best Presentation based on: (i) the Substance of the presentation, (ii) the Presentation and Style (includes visual aids, clarity of speech, eye contact, preparation, (iii) Discussion (this is your ability to respond to questions from the audience), and (iv) Adherence to Time Limit. There is also a Best Paper award, selected by two evaluators with criteria similar to those used to evaluate your proposals.

Guidelines for Writing Interuniversity student Conference Proposals

The paper proposal should explain the topic of a proposed paper, how it will be researched, and why this topic is important. The proposal is an organized explanation of a paper, not a short version of a paper. Because a proposal needs to communicate a lot of information in a small space, it needs to be carefully structured and use direct language. A proposal should identify the research question, the structure of the essay, different arguments, expected findings and conclusions, as well as the sources that will be used. In short, the proposal should give a clear idea of what the finished essay will include. Please bear in mind that the student Interuniversity student Conference papers should be argumentative, not descriptive, essays.

The following is a suggestion for how a proposal can be structured.

• Title: At the top you should include a title that will identify the content of your paper.

• Thesis: The first section should state the thesis (your research question) for the proposed paper. This section should include one or two sentences which very succinctly set out the focus of the paper.

• Importance: The second section should explain why the topic of the paper is important and should be researched.

• Argumentation: The third section should provide more information about the topic and explain how the paper will examine it. This is the most important part of the proposal. This paragraph should outline the main arguments to be analyzed in the paper, and should also, if possible, include some preliminary research findings and conclusions.

• Sources, methodology, and relevance: The last section should explain the methods, sources and materials that will be used to research the paper. Research papers can use a variety of sources depending on the type of paper being developed; these can include books, journals, interviews, planned surveys, Internet resources, and others. The more specific you can be about the sources being used, the easier it is for the evaluator to evaluate. This does not need to be an exact list of all the sources, but should demonstrate that you have begun researching, understand what sources you will be using, and that these resources are available.

Finally, the most important part of writing any proposal is the time put into rewriting it. Because it is difficult to compress a lot of information into a limited format, careful editing and rewriting is crucial. It is very essential that you adhere to the 1,000-word length limit on all proposals – any proposals exceeding this limit will NOT be considered.

Please note that we invite you to write critical papers including your own ideas, rather than descriptive ones. Make sure your paper proposal reflects the fact that you would prepare a critical paper and presentation if accepted to participate in the Interuniversity student Conference. This form should be fully completed by each student applicant and submitted in electronic format to the address [e-mail], together with the proposal, no later than 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15th, 2010.

The information below will be used only to process the application if the paper proposal is accepted. It will not be used in determining whether or not the application will be accepted. Good luck, we hope to see you at the Interuniversity student Conference!