Each year, the Section on Risk Analysis offers at least one student/young researcher travel award of $1,000 to defray the cost of attending and presenting at the Joint Statistical Meetings, to be held from July 30 to August 4 in 2011. The section is now soliciting entries for the 2011 competition.

The competition is open to all graduate and undergraduate students, full or part time, who are attending an accredited academic program. The student must be a member of the section or join the section when they submit their paper. Young researchers who have earned their PhD within the last three years are eligible to apply.

The work may be the development of new methodology in risk analysis or the application of existing risk methods in a novel way. The contribution may be a theoretical development, or it may cover any of the numerous applications of risk analysis, including environmental risk, financial risk, risk to engineering structures, health risks, and risks to defense and national security.

Entrants must submit a completed manuscript by midnight on January 10, 2011. There are no requirements concerning the minimum or maximum length of the manuscript, but conciseness is encouraged.

Entries should be sent to Alexandra Kapatou, chair of the student paper award committee, at akapatou@comcast.net. The email should include the completed manuscript as an attachment in PDF format. (Microsoft Word format also will be accepted, but PDF is preferred.) Include the words “Student/Young Researcher Paper Award” in the subject line of the email.

Manuscripts will be judged on relevance and interest of the subject matter, quality of writing, and, of course, quality of the research. The result will be announced by January 31, and the winner(s) will be required to submit their abstract to the ASA by midnight on February 1, 2011. For more information, visit the section’s website.