2025 Guidelines for Submission of Abstracts for Consideration in Competitions Sponsored by the International Embryo Technology Society Foundation

To enter the Foundation Competition, in addition to submitting your abstract to the Student Competition on the IETS Abstract Submission Page, you MUST fill out the appropriate application form that is located on the IETS website and submit the form by the deadline. Please note the requirements for each competition, and only enter the appropriate competition. You must choose Student Competition for your first section preference when you submit your abstract for the Student Competition.

Abstract Preferences

If entering the Graduate Student Research Competition, You must choose Graduate Student Competition for your First Section Preference. If you do not, you will not be entered in the competition.

Student Research Competition and Travel Grants

Candidates for master’s, doctoral, or professional (MD, DVM, VMD) degrees may request that their abstract be entered in the Student Research Competition. The experimental data presented in the abstract must be original and must have been gathered during the student’s degree program. The individual entering the competition must have been a student at some point during the calendar year immediately prior to the annual meeting for that competition. An individual student will be allowed to enter only one abstract per year, and that student must be the first author of that abstract. If an abstract is selected as a finalist, the student entering the competition with that abstract (the first author) shall present the abstract at the annual meeting. The format must conform to the IETS guidelines for Preparation of Abstracts for Poster Presentations. Data presented in this abstract may not have been accepted for publication elsewhere, nor have been presented at any national or international meeting prior to the IETS annual conference. If a student has submitted a manuscript containing the same data that are the basis for the abstract submitted to the IETS and receives notification that the manuscript will be published prior to the time of the competition, the abstract submitted to the IETS must be withdrawn immediately, and the student will not be eligible to compete at the IETS annual conference. Entries are judged on the quality of the abstract, and no more than six will be chosen for further competition. These six finalists will receive complimentary registration to the annual meeting where they will present their work in poster and oral format. Travel grants of $1,000 each will be awarded to the six finalists for their travel to and from the IETS annual conference. At the IETS annual conference, the student finalists will be judged on the quality of their poster presentation and on their oral presentation (10 minutes + 5 minutes for questions). Judges will be representative IETS members appointed to the Education Committee of the IETS Foundation who have no conflicts of interest with respect to students in the competition. A first-place winner and two runners-up will be awarded a cash prize (US$600 and US$400, respectively), and inscribed plaques. Student Research Competition abstracts that are rejected by the program co-chairs must be withdrawn from the competition. However, apart from acceptability of the abstract, the Education Committee of the IETS Foundation makes all decisions regarding the Student Research Competition. Students whose abstracts are not among the six selected for oral presentation are encouraged to attend the conference and present their data in the poster session or to send their posters with a representative who will make the presentation. If students do not intend to do so, they must withdraw their abstracts from the proceedings before August 23, 2024. Previous winners of this award are not eligible to compete. To apply for this competition, simply check the appropriate box on the IETS Electronic Abstract Submission Form and complete the additional requirements needed.

Judging Criteria for the Student Research Competition

Abstract (40 Points Possible)

Originality (13)
     Creativity of idea (6)
     Scope of idea (7)
Introduction (5)
     Statement of problem (3)
     Purpose of research (2)
Methods (12)
     Experimental design (4)
     Description of procedures (4)
     Data analysis (4)
Results and discussion (10)
     Presentation of results (5)
     Conclusion supported by data (5)

Oral presentation (35 Points Possible)

Delivery (5)
Presentation format (10)
     Introduction (2)
     Materials and methods (3)
     Results and discussion (3)
     Summary (2)
Visual aids (7)
     Legibility (3)
     Content (4)
Knowledge of subject matter (8)
     Literature (1)
     Experimental methods (3)
     Interpretation of data (4)
Response to questions (5)

Poster (25 Points Possible)

The Board of Governors of the IETS makes a specific point that materials should be low in cost.

Legibility and layout (5)
Introduction (3)
     Purpose of research
Materials and methods (6)
     Experimental design (2)
     Description of treatments (2)
     Statistical methods (2)
Results and discussion (8)
     Presentation of results (2)
     Explanation of tables/figures (2)
     Conclusions supported by data (4)
Summary/questioning (3)

Foundation Student Research Competition Winners

Year Position Name
2024 Winner Alan Crowe
2024 Runner Up Ines Flores Borobia
2024 Runner Up Katy McDonald
2024   Gaston La Motta
2024   Masaya Iwamoto
2024   Joao Paulo Andrade
2023 Winner Ben Meulders
2023 Runner Up João Vitor Alcantara da Silva
2023 Runner Up Rosane Mazzarella
2023   Gabriela Garrappa
2023   McKenzie Haimon
2023   Masroor Sagheer
2022 Winner Yinjuan Wang
2022 Runner Up Linkai Zhu
2022 Runner Up Katherine Polkoff
2022   Constanza Aguilera
2022   Li-Dun Chen
2022   Diego Caamano
2021 Winner Jacob Keim
2021 Runner Up Noof Abdulrahman Al Rabiah
2021 Runner Up Paula Chen
2021   Tays F. M. Bento
2021   Aldcejam M. Fonseca, Jr.
2021   Excel Rio Maylem
2020 Winner Anouk Smits
2020 Runner Up Kathryn M. Polkoff
2020 Runner Up Sandra Recuero Cobos
2020   Deirdre Scully
2020   Hao Ming
2020   Ilka Lorenzo
2019 Winner Rodrigo A. Carrasco
2019 Runner Up Laura A. Moley
2019 Runner Up Vera A. van der Weiden
2019   Ahmed Kasim Mahdi
2019   Jingyue E. Duan
2019   Micaela Navarro
2018 Winner Ismael Lamas-Toranzo
2018 Runner Up Andriana M. Zolini
2018 Runner Up Steve Yang
2018   Hayley Benham
2018   Ming Yang
2018   Serena L. Caunce
2017 Winner Paul Kordowitzki
2017 Runner Up Brittany Daughtry
2017 Runner Up Yanina S. Bogliotti
2017   Amy T. Desaulniers
2017   Beatriz Fernandez
2017   Denise Laskowski
2016 Winner Beatriz Fernandez Fuertes
2016 Runner Up Martha Sofia Ortega
2016 Runner Up Renan Bueno Sper
2016   Jason Ioannidis
2016   Kanokwan Srirattana
2016   Matthew Snyder
2015 Winner Yanina Bogliotti
2015 Runner Up Denise Laskowski
2015 Runner Up Lies Jordaens
2015   Anna Denicol
2015   Giselle Gamarra Lazo
2015   Maria Belen Rodriguez
2014 Winner Jaewook Chung
2014 Runner Up Andres Felipe Gonzalez Serano
2014 Runner Up Lindsay Cox
2014   Colleen Lambo
2014   Eline Wydooghe
2014   Yubyeol Jeon
2013 Winner Maria Schindler
2013 Runner Up Hilde Aardema
2013 Runner Up Mohammad Rahman
2013   Chelsie Burroughs
2013   Muhammad Khan
2013   Sara Valckx
2012 Winner Jimena Yapura
2012 Runner Up Georgia Pennarossa
2012 Runner Up Mingtao Zhao
2012   Amy Desaulniers
2012   Natalia Canel
2012   Romina Bevacqua
2011 Winner Swamy Tripurani
2011 Runner Up Christine Hamilton
2011 Runner Up Mike Peoples
2011   Bethany Bauer
2011   Georgia Pennarossa
2011   Romina Bevacqua