YSA 2024 Taiwan Merck Young Scientist Award: Recognizing Young Scientists in Life Science, Chemical, Biology
Site Overview
- Competition Overview
- Event Rules
- Competition Format Explanation
- Oral Presentation
- Poster Presentation
- Oral Presentation Competition Prizes
- Poster Paper Competition Prizes
- FAQs
- Submission Content
Competition Overview
The Young Scientist Competition is divided into two major fields: "Life Sciences" and "Chemistry." The competition format includes both "Oral Presentation" and "Poster Presentation" categories. Participants are required to register according to their individual research topics and qualifications. Entries must not have received awards or recognition from other competition activities, nor can they be previous winning works of the Young Scientist Award. If discovered, winning (or participating) qualifications will be revoked.
*Special Note: For research projects participating in the Young Scientist Award, the registration content must adhere to the rule that "the research topic and presentation content in the registration must not completely overlap with previously awarded research." If you have any questions, please feel free to inquire with the organizing committee.
Oral Presentation
Participants must hold doctoral student status or be doctoral-level researchers affiliated with laboratories/research institutes related to natural sciences or engineering at universities, government agencies, medical institutions, or foundations in Taiwan for the year 2024.
Poster Presentation
Participants must be undergraduate, master's, or integrated master's enrolled in universities or colleges in Taiwan for the year 2024.
Event Rules
- Submission Period: From February 15, 2024 to April 8, 2024, 23:59pm. Submissions received after the deadline will not be accepted.
- Application Method: Online registration is required. Please complete the registration and submission process on the competition website before the submission deadline.
Contact Information:
YSA Organizing Committee Contact Person: Ms. Shih
Contact Number: (02) 3366-9976
Finals Event Date and Venue: May 18, National Taiwan University | Boya Lecture Building
Competition Format Explanation
Competition Themes:
The research themes revolve around "Life Sciences" and "Chemistry," divided into six subjects: "Cancer Research”, “Neurology and Immunology”, “Biomedical Materials”, “Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry”, “Green, Energy and Sustainability”, and “Nanomaterials”.
Competition Categories:
The competition is divided into "Life Sciences" and "Chemistry" fields, with two categories: "Oral Presentation" and "Poster Paper." Participants are required to register based on their individual research topics and qualifications.
For the Oral Presentation category, there are preliminary and final rounds. Participants who pass the preliminary round qualify for the final round. Additionally, there will be an online video popularity challenge as one of the judging criteria for the final round.
Oral Presentation
Competition Eligibility:
Participants must hold doctoral student status or be postdoctoral researchers affiliated with laboratories/research institutes related to natural sciences or engineering at universities, government agencies, medical institutions, or foundations in Taiwan for the year 2024.
Preliminary Round – Document Review: Submit a PDF file of the research abstract for the competition. Submit a signed consent form from the advisor or unit supervisor (as per Appendix 1 of the registration guidelines). After the preliminary review, the finalists will be announced on the event website by April 19, and they will be individually notified via email.
Online – Video Popularity Challenge: Finalists are required to pre-record a 3-minute (±15 seconds) oral presentation video in either Chinese or English. The video format should be in MOV or MP4 format, and the video theme must match the research abstract submitted in the preliminary round. Upload the video to the designated cloud storage provided by the organizing committee before May 3, 2024. The organizing committee will upload the videos to Merck Taiwan's official YouTube channel and set them to public for general viewing by May 6, 2024. The results of the online video popularity challenge (based on non-duplicate views in YouTube backend) will contribute 20% to the total score. The data calculation deadline is May 16, 2024, 23:59. Failure to submit will result in forfeiting this portion of the score.
Final Round – On-site Oral Presentation: The on-site oral presentations will be held on May 18, 2024, with expert scholars invited by the organizing committee serving as judges. The presentation time should be within 5 minutes, followed by a 2-minute Q&A session. Exceeding 5 minutes will result in score deductions at the discretion of the judges. Scoring criteria will include research structure, presentation organization and structure, presentation skills, slide quality, attire during presentation, time management, and ability to answer questions, with weighted scoring.
Other Notes: The competition content must be conduct solely by the participants (not produced by external personnel). The on-site oral presentation in the finals must be conducted by the participant themselves and cannot be substituted by others. An award ceremony will be held at the end of the finals day, and winners must personally receive their awards and cannot delegate someone else to receive on their behalf.
Poster Presentation
Competition Eligibility: Participants must be enrolled students, master's students, or integrated master's students at universities or colleges in Taiwan for the year 2024.
Preliminary Round – Document Review:
Submit a PDF file of the research abstract for the competition. Submit a signed consent form from the supervising professor or unit supervisor (as per Appendix 1 of the registration guidelines). After the abstract submission review, the organizing committee will announce the finalists on the event website by April 19, 2024, and individually notify them via email.
Final Round – Poster Presentation:
Participants must bring an A0-sized poster (height 119 cm × width 84 cm) to the venue on the finals day and affix it to the designated poster board. Participants should have their posters posted before the display time and present their research content for 3 minutes when the judging committee visits. Participants must also respond to questions from the judging committee. The judging committee will evaluate the poster content and the presentation and select winning poster papers based on the scoring criteria. If a participant fails to post the poster within 5 minutes after the designated start time or is not present at their poster when the judging committee arrives, they will be considered as forfeiting their competition eligibility.
Other Notes: The competition content must be conduct solely by the participants (not produced by external personnel). Participants are responsible for removing their posters after the display time. An award ceremony will be held on the competition's end day, and winners must personally receive their awards and cannot delegate someone else to receive on their behalf.
Oral Presentation Competition Prizes |
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Poster Paper Competition Prizes |
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What is the definition of having student status for the academic year 2024?
The conference adopts the standard of "being enrolled as a student during registration and competition," which means having valid enrollment status between February 15, 2024, and May 18, 2024. Therefore, individuals who graduate in January 2024 or enroll in August 2024 are welcome to participate next year!.
After filling out the registration form, I can't find the submission form. Where can I find it?
The registration process for this event consists of two parts: "Registration" and "Submission." To avoid confusion between the two forms, the link to the submission form is not directly provided on the website at the moment.
The link to the submission form can be found after completing registration form.
If you are unable to locate the link, please feel free to contact the organizing committee at any time.
Can I use a previously published paper for the competition?
Sure, as long as the submitted work is not "a work that has won prizes or awards in other competition activities" or "a work that has won the Merck Young Scientist Award in previous years," you are welcome to submit previously published papers!
Can I include supplementary figures in the abstract of my paper, and should I include citations?
The required fields for the abstract are title, author and affiliation, and abstract text. The inclusion of tables (Table of Content) is optional, as indicated in the abstract format. All other fields are not mandatory to fill in.
Submission content is limited to English and Chinese
The submission method is via the online platform, where participants upload their submission documents and sign the consent form. Failure to complete either will result in disqualification from the competition.
Young scientists up to the age of 40 (born after 1984) are eligible to participate. Participants must be affiliated with universities, government agencies, medical institutions, or scientific/engineering laboratories or research units. Each participant is limited to one submission.
Participants must not hold a practicing physician qualification. Violations will result in immediate disqualification.
A signed consent form from the supervising professor, manager, or project leader/PI must be provided for verification.
All submissions must comply with copyright and patent laws. Any violations will result in disqualification. Winning submissions found to have violated evaluation procedures, committed plagiarism or fraud, will have their awards revoked. Participants are liable for any legal consequences arising from intellectual property infringement.
Participants retain intellectual property rights but must cooperate with promotional activities organized by providing relevant materials for marketing purposes.
All registrations are done online, and no physical documents will be accepted. Backup copies of all submitted files must be retained as they will not be returned.
Participants must adhere to the submission deadlines. Failure to submit by the specified time will result in disqualification.
The judging panel may adjust the number of awards based on the evaluation results.
By participating in this competition, participants agree to abide by all competition rules. Any unaddressed matters will be announced separately by the organizing committee.
Organizer:
- Merck Taiwan Co., Ltd.
- College of Life Science, National Taiwan University
- College of Science, National Taiwan University
- Center for Emerging Material and Advanced Devices, National Taiwan University
- Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University
- Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Taiwan University
Co-organizer:
Biotechnology Research Center, National Taiwan University
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