Below are the criteria that will be used in the poster judging competition:

• Student presenters will have a maximum of 10 minutes with the judges  during which time they should give a concise presentation of their work to the judge or judges (3-4 minutes maximum) which will be followed by 6-7 minutes of questions about the work.

• In round one, each poster will be viewed by only one judge, randomly selected, but not from their institute. Each judge views 5 posters.

• Judges confer and select one of the viewed posters for round 2. In case a judge can't decide, a second judge may be sent to view two closely ranked posters.

• Students need to be available in case they are selected for round 2 (Posters will be identified soon after the end of round one with post it notes).

• During round 2, posters selected in round 1 will be viewed twice, by two pairs of judges, again for 10 minutes each as outlined above and given a score. Prizes will be awarded based on overall score from the 4 judges in round 2.

• In some cases, judges will again need to go back to posters to re-evaluate two closely ranked posters. Therefore, students are asked to keep close to their posters for the duration of the judging process and may be asked to present 3 or even 4 times.

• Posters are judged on scientific excellence, ability of student to present and answer questions, scope of research, taking into consideration the length of time in the program and the proportion of research contributed directly by the student.