1.1 The Award is made on the merit of original research from a student research project, the findings of which have been published, or accepted for publication, in a peer-reviewed journal in the four years since the submission of the candidate’s thesis.

1.2 The work presented shall be in any branch of Plant Biology.

1.3 The work need not have been carried out solely in New Zealand, but the candidate should have been enrolled at a New Zealand University.

1.4 The Award will normally be made annually.

1.5 The Award will consist of a certificate and the awardee will be invited and funded by the Society to present their work in a lecture at the Society’s Annual Conference in the year of the Award (if the awardee is now overseas, the society may contribute to the awardee’s travel costs).

2.1 The candidate may apply for the Award, or a nomination may be made on their behalf.

2.2 The candidate must be a current member of the Society.

2.3 The candidate must be the major contributor to the paper, indicated by first authorship, first co-authorship, or by being corresponding author. In exceptional circumstances, another authorship position may be accepted.

2.4 The paper is to originate from a student research project (Honours, MSc, PhD, or similar) where the thesis has been submitted in the four years preceding the application for the Award.

2.5 Candidates are not restricted as to the number of occasions on which they apply, or are nominated, for the Award.

3.1 Application for the Award shall be made to the Secretary of the Society by the specified time, normally three months before the Annual Conference at which the Award is to be announced.

3.2 Each application shall include:
3.2.1 a copy of the paper that forms the basis of the application;
3.2.2 a citation limited to 100 words, for use should the candidate be successful;
3.2.3 a brief statement outlining the input of each author to the submitted paper;
3.2.4 a letter of confirmation from the candidate’s principal supervisor that the work is the candidate’s, that the work was conducted in the main (meaning 80% or more) during their candidature, and that the input from each author has been correctly attributed in the author input statement (see section 3.2.3).

3.3 The Secretary of the Society shall maintain a register of the current year’s applications. Those assessing applications shall not be told whether the applications have originated as nominations or direct applications.

3.4 The Award will be made by the Society on the recommendation of its Council. The Council may appoint a sub-committee, which will normally include the President, to facilitate assessment of applications and shall co-opt expert assessors from New Zealand or overseas as required.

3.5 The Council reserves the right not to make an award in any particular year or to make exceptions to these regulations should the need arise.