Poster Awards
Awards and Fellowships
The ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials (CELL) Division in collaboration with Springer, the publisher of the periodical CELLULOSE, recognizes the best three student posters presented at the ACS Spring National Meeting. The winners of the Poster Awards sponsored by Springer-Cellulose will receive book tokens, certificates and complementary Awards Banquet ticket.
Eligibility
All students who meet the following eligibility criteria shall be eligible to compete for the Award. First, the student must be a member of the ACS CELL Division. Second, the student must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program on the day of the ACS Spring National Meeting Abstract Submission Deadline. Third, the student must be pursuing research in the chemical nature of cellulose, other renewable materials and their allied products.
Application Submission
Students who are eligible and wish to compete for the Award shall submit, as presenting authors, a poster abstract for the ACS Spring National Meeting through the ACS online submissions process. There shall be only one presenting author from each poster competing for the Award.
List of Qualified Posters
The Division Program Chair shall determine the eligibility of applicants from information submitted through the ACS on-line submission system and place the eligible posters on the List of Qualified Posters. The List of Qualified Posters shall contain at least the poster name, poster number and the name of the presenting author of each qualified poster.
Determination of the Winners
Judging Panel
The CELL Division Program Chair, or delegate, shall assemble a Judging Panel before the General Poster Session of the Spring National Meeting. The number of judges on the Judging Panel depends on the number of posters on the List of Qualified Posters where each judge shall not review more than 10 posters. The minimum number of judges on the Judging Panel shall not be less than five judges notwithstanding the number of posters in the Qualified Poster List. The term of the Judging Panel shall expire when then winners of the Award are honored at the Division Awards Banquet.
Qualified List
Before the General Poster Session at the ACS Spring Annual Meeting, the Division Program Chair shall distribute the List of Qualified Posters to members of the Judging Panel. The Judging Panel shall only review posters that are on the List of Qualified Posters assigned to them during the General Poster Session at the ACS Spring National Meeting. The Program Chair shall assign each ACS CELL Division Springer Student Poster Award Score Sheet judge an equal number of posters for judging. In keeping with ACS Poster Session regulations, the presenting authors are required to be standing by their poster at the General Poster session to discuss their work to members of the Judging Panel. Posters shall be disqualified if the presenting author is not standing by the poster to discuss their work to members of the Judging Panel. The Program Chair, or delegate, shall inform the winners of the result at the end of the General Poster Session.
Judging Criteria
To determine the winner, members of the Judging Panel shall rank the posters while considering the following criteria.
- Research – originality and creativity
- Content – clear objectives, methods, conclusions and relevance of material presented
- Appearance – attractiveness of poster, ease of comprehension, quality of illustrations
- Communication – clarity of explanation of work by the student
Method to Select Winners
Judging shall be completed in two stages. In the first stage, judges shall rank the posters assigned to them by the Program Chair in order of preference while considering the judging criteria set forth elsewhere. When ranking is completed, each judge shall submit their top ranked poster to the Program Chair. The top ranked posters by each judge shall advance to the second stage. In the second stage, all judges shall numerically rank every posters advanced to the second stage. Numerical ranking means that judges shall rank the posters in order of preference with the number one as the most preferred and through as many numbers as posters. Judges shall submit their numerical ranking of all posters still in the second stage to the Program Chair. The Program Chair shall calculate the score for each poster by adding the numeric ranking from all judges. The poster receiving the lowest score shall be the first-place winner, the poster receiving the second-lowest score shall be the second place winner and the poster receiving the third lowest score shall be the third place winner.
The decision of the Panel of Judges is final and irrevocable, and is not subject to appeal.
Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Standards
The decision of the Panel of Judges is final and irrevocable, and is not subject to appeal. The Judging Panel shall not include a presenting author’s current academic advisors, co-authors within the past three years, business partners, employers, employees or anyone that could be perceived as biased in selecting the winner of the Award.
Past Winners
2023
PhD students: Tadeusz Balcerowski (The University of Manchester) and Zhenqing Wang (Washington University in St Louis)
Undergraduate students: Ivy Wang (California State Polytechnic University), Bianca Dawson (University of West Florida) and Farah Lino (University of West Florida)
2019
1st: Derek Corbet, NC State University
2nd: Oriana Vanderfleet, McMaster University
3rd: Ken Johnson, SUNY Stony Brook
2018
1st: Maria C. Iglesias, Auburn University
2nd: Kevin J. De France, McMaster University
3rd: Yefei Zhang, University of Chicago
2017
1st: Stephanie Kedzior, McMaster University
2nd: Wiriya Thongsomboon, Stanford University
3rd: Sebastian von Gradowski, TU Darmstadt
2016
1st: Zarih Farhana Mohn Aris, University of Massachusetts at Lowell
2nd: Wei L, TU Darmstadt
3rd: Simon Gutafasson, Angstrom University

Prizes
The CELL Division and Springer recognizes the top three winners for the Award at the Division Awards Banquet.
The first-place winner shall receive a $250 Springer book voucher, a certificate, and a complementary ticket to the CELL Division Awards Banquet at the ACS Spring National Meeting of the year the winners are selected.
The second-place winner shall receive a $150 Springer book voucher, a certificate and a ticket to the CELL Division Awards Banquet.
The third-place winner shall receive a $75 Springer book voucher and a ticket to the Division Awards Banquet