Call for Nominations

The Dana Meadows Prize is an award of the System Dynamics Society given annually for the best paper by a student presented at the annual System Dynamics Conference.  Established in 2001, the prize celebrates and recognizes high quality student work in the field of system dynamics.  In addition to an overall prizewinner, several papers may be selected for honorable mention.  The winner will receive a cash prize of  $500 as well as conference registration plus travel expenses (up to a combined maximum of $700).  Students are strongly encouraged to attend the conference and present their work.  However, under exceptional circumstances the winner or runners-up may be recognised without attendance.  A winner who is unable to attend will not receive travel or registration expenses.

For the purpose of the prize, a student is anyone who, at the time of writing the manuscript, is enrolled in an accredited program of study, in any subject.  The paper can be co-authored with other eligible students.  If such a co-authored paper is selected as the winner, the authors will share the prize equally. Papers may also be co-authored with a non-student (such as a faculty advisor or consultant) but only if accompanied by a statement from the advisor that the intellectual content arises from the student’s own work.  In all such cases the student must appear as the first author and non-students do not receive a share of the prize. Any paper authored by an eligible student and accepted for the conference can be considered for the award, whether presented in a plenary, parallel, or poster session.  Brevity is a virtue.  Papers must not exceed 5,000 words and should adhere to general conference guidelines.  However, essential documentation or model code can appear in a technical appendix without adding to the word count.

Nomination Procedure    To be considered for the prize you should follow the self-nomination procedure when you submit your paper to the conference, or no later than the submission deadline of April 2, 2004.  You will be asked to affirm that you meet the requirements for the prize and agree to the review terms.  If your paper is co-authored, you will be asked to identify which authors are students.  Non-student co-authors must each write a statement to the Society indicating that the student author(s) is/are responsible for the content of the paper.  Scroll down to see a sample statement included below for reference.

The Dana Meadows Student Prize is generously funded by Jane and Allen Boorstein.

A Note About the Prize

The Society’s Dana Meadows prize symbolizes the Society’s commitment to students in two ways.  It brings recognition to the very best student work. It also honors, in an enduring way, the life and work of Dana Meadows.

Dana Meadows is remembered as an eloquent sustainability advocate and environmental writer.  But she was also, and arguably foremost, a teacher -- one exceptionally committed to her students and their development not only intellectually but in all ways.  Honoring Dana through this award recognizes her work as an inspiring teacher and mentor of young people, and sets a standard for what good modeling is.  The award will help develop the next generation of systems thinkers and modelers according to her ideals.  Her unusually high level of integrity in all things extended to high standards for modeling, for documentation, and for exposing assumptions.  The words of two of her (now distinguished) former students embody the spirit and intention of the prize:

“On occasions when I might be tempted to cut corners in modeling work (what modeler hasn't faced these), envisioning Dana across the table, posing her gentle but piercing queries, was one of the things that helped keep me honest.”

“Dana knew better than most of us that the leverage points for changing a system often lie far from the symptoms of difficulty.  She would understand that an application of system dynamics to issues apparently not connected to sustainability, including corporate applications, might very well promote her goals, not only her goals of creating a sustainable and just society but of promoting integrity and honesty in our analysis of problems, whatever and wherever they may be -- that is, in the way we create and test our models, mental and formal.”

 To see a list of past Dana Meadows Student Prize winners please click here.

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Sample Non-Student Co-author Statement

Email:  isdc@albany.edu

Fax:  +1 518 442 3398

Post: 

Attn:  Dana Meadows Prize Committee

System Dynamics Society

Milne 300, University at Albany

Albany, NY  12222  USA

Dear Committee Members,

With regard to submission # _________ titled “_________________“ for which I am listed as an author:

I certify that (list all qualified student authors here) is/are solely responsible for the intellectual content of this paper and is/are qualified to receive the Dana Meadows Prize for this work.  I declare that the intellectual content of this paper derives from the student(s)’s work and not mine.

Signed: