
CSPC 2022 Youth Award
The Canadian Science Policy Centre is pleased to announce the competition for the 8th CSPC Youth Award. CSPC is committed to building capacity and empowering a young generation of scientists and policy makers, to develop their expertise and be able to showcase their talent. We encourage all of you below 35 years of age from any discipline, any sector and at any stage of your career, to apply for this award.

This award recognizes an individual under the age of 35 who proposes an innovative and compelling evidence-based policy proposal that will make a positive difference to Canadians. Proposals should be connected to one or more of the themes for the CSPC 2022 listed here.
This award is designed not only to highlight innovative, evidence-driven policy ideas by policy students and young professionals, but also to encourage young people not currently studying, or working in public policy to share their policy ideas. Eligible recipients include all young Canadian residents under 35, regardless of their field of study or work. The CSPC is fully committed to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion and encourages all qualified participants to apply.
The CSPC award winners will be recognized prominently at the 14th Canadian Science Policy Conference, CSPC 2022, Gala Dinner to be held in Ottawa on Nov 17th. The Award winners will receive free admission to the CSPC Gala 2022 along with accommodation for two nights at the designated hotel for the CSPC Gala 2022. The award winner will also receive a trophy and certificate from CSPC.
Two runners-up will also be selected, and will be entitled to free admission to CSPC 2022
The deadline for applications has passed, thank you to all who have applied.
The winner was announced at the gala dinner on Thursday, Nov 17th, 2022.
The required elements for a successful application are listed below. Before submission, please ensure your application is fully completed and that it adheres to the stated word limit. Accompanying videos (of not more than 10 minutes), posters or presentations (in PowerPoint or Prezi) are also welcome in addition to the completed web form. Files must be less than 8 MB and any of the following file types is acceptable (gif, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, eps, tif, pict, txt, html, pdf, doc, docx, odt, ppt, pptx, odp, xls, xlsx, ods).
Proposals will be anonymized and subjected to a blind review by the award selection committee.
Citations for sources of evidence should follow IEEE style with square brackets for in-text citations. Citations are not included in the word count.
Application Elements
- Name.
- *Date of Birth.
- *Contact Information (phone, address, email).
- Brief Biography (no more than 150 words).
- Proposal Inspiration (in 150 words or less).
- Connected Conference Theme(s)
- Short Title of Policy Proposal
- Need/Opportunity for Action (600 words or less)
Describe the nature of the problem that the proposal seeks to solve. Supported by evidence, describe why it is important, and what current actions/policies are being taken, or not, by the government. - Proposed Solution/Policy Change (600 words or less)
Describe the proposed policy/program that should be adopted by the governments at any level (Federal, Provincial/Territorial, Municipal) to address the challenge. This can include partnership with other organizations. Please describe the rationale and include the evidence. - Describe the novelty of the proposal. (300 words)
- Lay Abstract. (200 words or less).
Rules and Eligibility
- Applications must be made by an individual under the age of 35 at the time of submission.
- Scores and feedback provided by the judges will not be disclosed for any reason.
- All applicants give the right to the CSPC to profile their submission in all Conference materials before, during, and after the event.
- The CSPC and the judges will not release any information in the application that is specified as confidential (marked above with an *asterisk).
- The current CSPC Board, management, staff, volunteers and members of the Awards Selection Committee, may not apply for the Science Policy Award of Excellence - Youth Category.
If you have any issues in submitting your proposal or any questions regarding the submission, please email awards.prix@sciencepolicy.ca.
Applications will be scored on the basis of the following criteria:
- Effective use of evidence - 25%
- Expected impact of the proposal - 25%
- Novelty and creativity - 25%
- Presentation and clarity of writing – ability to be understood by a general public audience - 25%
2021:
CSPC 2021 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2021 Award proposals
CSPC 2021 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2020:
CSPC 2020 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2020 Award proposals
CSPC 2020 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2019:
CSPC 2019 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2019 Award proposals
CSPC 2019 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2018:
CSPC 2018 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2018 Award proposals
CSPC 2018 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2017:
CSPC 2017 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2017 Award proposals
CSPC 2017 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2016:
CSPC 2016 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2016 Award proposals
CSPC 2016 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2021:
CSPC 2021 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2021 Award proposals
CSPC 2021 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2020:
CSPC 2020 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2020 Award proposals
CSPC 2020 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2019:
CSPC 2019 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2019 Award proposals
CSPC 2019 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2018:
CSPC 2018 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2018 Award proposals
CSPC 2018 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2017:
CSPC 2017 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2017 Award proposals
CSPC 2017 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony
2016:
CSPC 2016 Science Policy Excellence Award – Youth
Download a PDF of the top 2016 Award proposals
CSPC 2016 Science Policy Excellence Award Ceremony