The Section on Statistical Learning and Data Mining (SLDM) of the American Statistical Association is sponsoring a student paper competition for the 2013 Joint Statistical Meetings. The paper might be an original methodological research or analysis of data (from various fields including but not limited to pharmaceutical, genomics, bioinformatics, engineering, defense, business, public health) that uses principles and methods in statistical learning and data mining.

Papers that have been accepted for publication are not eligible for the competition. Selected winners will present their papers in an organized session at the 2013 JSM in Montreal, Canada. At the session, they will be presented a monetary prize and an award certificate. Winning papers are also recommended for submission to Statistical Analysis and Data Mining (SAM), which is the flagship journal of the SLDM.

Graduate or undergraduate students who are enrolled in Autumn 2012 or Spring 2013 are eligible to participate. The applicant must be the first author of the paper. All application materials must be submitted electronically (in pdf) and must be sent to Professor Mu Zhu (m3zhu@uwaterloo.ca) by noon EST, Saturday, December 15, 2012.

All entries must include the following:

1. List of authors and contact information
2. Abstract with no more than 200 words
3. Manuscript - double-spaced with no more than 25 pages including figures, tables, references and appendix
4. Blinded versions of the abstract and manuscript (with no authors nor references that could easily lead to author identification)
5. C.V.
6. A reference letter from a faculty member familiar with the student's work which must include a verification of the applicant's student status and, in the case of joint authorship, should indicate the fraction of the applicant's contribution to the manuscript. All materials must be in English.

Award announcements will be made in late January 2013.

For inquiries, please contact Mu Zhu (Email: m3zhu at uwaterloo.ca).