Awards Sub-Committee of APPS

General information
APPS has three awards which recognize special contributions of members. Nominees for each award are nominated by a proposer and seconder who are members of APPS, and submitted to the President of APPS. Nominations close 16 weeks before the next biennial conference so that the presentations can be made at a general meeting of the society normally held at its Biennial Conference. The Management Committee may appoint a subcommittee to assess nominations.
Nominations are to be submitted without the knowledge of the nominee, and all evaluations and decisions will remain confidential. While the number of nominations received is not limited, the Management Committee reserves the right to determine the suitability of any nominee for the selected award.
The three categories of award are listed below. The rules defining them are available either in the constitution of APPS or APPSnet.org.

Preparation of Nominations
Nominations should be prepared as follows and submitted as a PDF document to the Chair Awards Sub Committee, Mike Pearson,  m.pearson@auckland.ac.nz before the closing date.

Include:

1. A cover letter of less than one page with the name of the award for which the nomination is made, and the names of the candidate, proposer and seconder. It can outline contributions not given in the nomination statement.

2. A nomination statement of less than 1,000 words that highlights the contributions of the candidate in relation to the requirements of the selected award. Include the candidate’s name, place of birth, degrees, institutions and years granted, as well as current position. This statement should emphasise the relevance and impact of the candidates contributions to the advancement of science and plant pathology.

3. A ~150-word abstract of the nomination statement for use in an award ceremony

4. A Curriculum Vitae of less than two pages.

5. A complete list of publications. The list should be separated into the following categories, with most recent publications first. Abstracts and manuscripts not yet accepted should NOT be included.

6. Any additional documentation as specified for the particular Award as described below.

DESCRIPTIONS OF AWARDS AND SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Distinguished Service Award
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Award are selected on the basis of an outstanding contribution to the Society while also furthering the science of plant pathology.
This award is the equivalent of the previous Honorary Member Award which has been renamed to more accurately indicate that the recipient has made an outstanding contribution to APPS through service, teaching, extension, office-holding or other activity which can be considered to be beyond the normal expectations of their employment or duties.

Fellows of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society
This award honours the scientific achievements of members. This can be interpreted to mean that a nominee has made original discoveries in one or more areas of plant pathology and that their work has been peer reviewed as shown by their list of publications. Text books, reviews, grant income and community service can be considered in addition to scientific publication but in themselves are not of sufficient status for an award to be made. To allow comparison and selection of candidates to be simplified, proposers and seconders must describe the nominee’s contributions to the science of plant pathology, list 10 of their most significant papers, and provide electronic (.pdf) versions of 5 of these. Where a nominee is not the first author of any paper, it is suggested that their role in completing the study be indicated.

Lester Burgess Award in Diagnostics and Extension or Research Communication  
This award, in the form of a medal and citation, is designed to recognize exceptional contributions in the fields of diagnostics and extension or research communication. An award can be made to an individual or group (team). It is envisaged that successful nominees will have made exceptional contributions in one or more of these fields over a significant period of their career(s). While a significant publication record is desirable the primary focus of the award is on contributions to the diagnosis of plant diseases in public or private laboratories, extension to clients in field crops and horticultural industries as well as in forestry, natural ecosystems, and amenity plants, or research communication to such clients and the general community as public or private advisors. The inscriptions on the medal would read ‘Diagnostics and Extension’ or ‘Research Communication’ as appropriate. Awards would be presented at the APPS Conference and more than one award could be made at each conference. No award would be made if no suitable nomination was received.

Guidelines for Nominations

1. A letter of nomination signed by two nominators should be submitted summarizing an attached portfolio of information containing details of the case for the award. The letter should highlight the contributions that form the basis for the nomination. The nominators and nominees must be members of the Society. The nomination should be strictly confidential to the nominators and Awards Sub-Committee, and the President.

2. The portfolio should include the following:
      2.1      Four letters of support from clients and/or industry bodies with brief details of the measurable impact of the nominee’s work on their activities (operations).  
      2.2       Appropriate examples of extension materials (submitted in digital form) or reference to such materials on websites. Such examples could include some materials prepared by a team where the nomination is for an individual.
      2.3        Details of citations or award(s) that the nominated individual or team has received from industry groups, research and development agencies, (or for which they have been nominated), or similar examples that demonstrate exceptional contributions. It is recognized that such awards may not be available to nominees working in some sectors.  
      2.4        Other information that the nominators consider supports the case for nomination.

Australasian Plant Pathology Society’s Allen Kerr Postgraduate Prize
This award is known as the Australasian Plant Pathology Society's Allen Kerr Postgraduate Prize in recognition of the outstanding contribution made by Allen Kerr AO to the field of plant pathology. The Allen Kerr Postgraduate Prize is awarded by the Society for the best piece of original research relevant to Australasia by a postgraduate student in the field of plant pathology. The prize is normally awarded on the basis of publication in a refereed journal(s).

Conditions:

1. Only candidates who are financial members of the Society at the time of nomination will be eligible for the award.

2. Candidates must have completed the research not more than five years previous to the closing date for nominations. The same piece of work cannot be considered twice for the award.

3. The prize consists of a medal inscribed with the name of the recipient, a certificate, and $500 cash. One prize is available for each 2 year period, hence the prize is highly competitive.

4. While attendance at the Conference when the prize will be presented is desirable, it is not obligatory for award of the prize.

5. Candidates are normally nominated by a supervisor, but non-supervisors may also nominate candidates. Nominators have to be Members of the Society. Candidates may not nominate themselves.

6. Nominations are submitted on an official nomination form (AKP_Form available 2017). An electronic (.pdf) version of the completed form, together with electronic (.pdf) versions of thesis and published material must be submitted.