February 25, 2010 (Des Plaines, IL) - URISA seeks to encourage students in a variety of academic settings and disciplines to write and publish papers and projects for the URISA membership and others in the spatial technologies industry.

 To promote this objective URISA has established a student competition.

The 2010 Student Competition will consist of a three-tier approach that includes Papers, Presentations and Posters. Submissions are due on or before May 1, 2010. For complete details: http://www.urisa.org/student_paper_competition

. PAPERS - Students, particularly graduate students, are invited to submit a paper for a special section of the URISA Journal. The papers will undergo a review process under the direction of the Publications Committee, augmented by the Editor of the URISA Journal. Lead authors of the top three papers would receive an award of a one-year membership in URISA or free registration at the annual URISA conference.

. PRESENTATIONS - Undergraduate students are invited to submit presentations (Powerpoint with narrative). The presentations would be undergo a review process under the direction of the Publications Committee. The top two presentations will receive a free registration for presentation at the annual URISA conference and/or at their regional URISA conference.

. POSTERS - Community college and GIS Certificate students are invited to submit posters. The posters would undergo a review process under the direction of the Publications Committee, augmented by community college instructors. (This category is co-sponsored by the National GeoTech Center.) The top ten posters will receive an award of a one-year membership in URISA and will be recommended for free registration at a regional URISA conference.

The URISA Student Competition Committee will review all submissions and the winners will be notified in early August. Winners will be recognized during the awards ceremony at GIS-Pro 2010: URISA's 48th Annual Conference in Orlando (the Awards Breakfast will take place on Thursday, September 30, 2010).

For details and submission information, visit http://www.urisa.org/student_paper_competition