Pensoft Student Awards

The Pensoft Student Awards recognize outstanding student presentations at the annual TDWG conference, celebrating excellence in biodiversity informatics research, innovation, and communication. Through the generous support of Pensoft Publishers, the awards reflect a shared commitment between TDWG and Pensoft to support emerging researchers.

Pensoft Logo

Eligibility

Eligibility for the awards is limited to students who are the presenting authors of an oral presentation or poster at TDWG 2026 and who indicate during abstract submission that they wish to participate in the competition. The work presented must represent the student’s own contributions. Students may enter multiple presentations, provided each meets the eligibility requirements. Participants must be enrolled in a degree-granting program or have graduated within six months immediately preceding the conference registration deadline.

Awards

Award recipients will receive:

An award certificate
A complimentary publication opportunity in a Pensoft journal, covering article processing charges for a standard-size article

Recipients are encouraged to use the publication award to publish the work recognized by the award and, where appropriate, to serve as the lead author on the resulting publication. However, where that work is not suitable for journal publication, the award may be applied to other eligible work. The publication award is non-transferable, must be redeemed by the award recipient within one year of receipt, and may be used with any journal within the Pensoft portfolio.

Judging

Student presentations are evaluated by volunteer members of the TDWG community. Each eligible presentation is reviewed multiple times to ensure a fair and balanced assessment. Members of the Student Awards committee are not eligible to compete and will not evaluate presentations where a conflict of interest exists.

Presentations are scored using the following criteria (score out of 100):

Content (15 points)
Originality (15 points)
Completeness (15 points)
Depth of Knowledge (20 points)
Performance (25 points)

Scores are compiled following the conference and reviewed by the Student Awards committee before winners are finalized.

Announcement of Winners

Student Award recipients will be announced during the TDWG 2026 Closing Session and recognized through conference communications.

Questions

Questions regarding eligibility, judging, award administration, or other aspects of the Pensoft Student Awards may be directed to the Student Awards Committee.

Contact: Chandra Earl (Student Awards Committee Chair)
Email: conf-organizers@tdwg.org