Am I eligible to enter the YEuCat Contest: Research in a Nutshell?

• Career Stage: You must be a PhD student or an early-career PostDoc. For PostDocs, the PhD defense date must be no earlier than September 1, 2023. You may be asked to submit a scan of your defense certificate to certify that.
• Abstract Submission: You must submit an abstract for an oral presentation at EuropaCat 2025.
• Attendance: You must be present for the final round which will take place during the EuropaCat 2025 program. 

How can I enter the contest?

If you are a PhD student or early-career PostDoc and are submitting an abstract for an oral presentation at EuropaCat 2025, you can enter the contest by selecting the respective checkbox during the submission process. Furthermore, you need to add a short paragraph (maximum 100 words) which summarizes the content of the abstract in a way the general public can understand it. Your abstract will undergo an additional review step following the regular conference review process when this paragraph will be taken into account. Please note that entering the contest will not affect your chances of being selected for an oral presentation. However, researchers submitting abstracts for poster presentations are not eligible to enter the contest.

What will be the modus of the contest?

The first selection of up to 10 finalists will be made based on the results of the extended abstract review process including also review of the short paragraph explaining your research to a general audience. These finalists will be invited to present their research in a dedicated session at EuropaCat 2025, delivering a short oral presentation (8 minutes), followed by a 2 min Q&A. The presentations will be evaluated through a combination of a jury vote and a public vote from the audience. The winners will be announced during the congress dinner and will receive their award during the award ceremony.

What will be the evaluation criteria?

The main focus of the contest is on effectively communicating your research to the audience. Finalists will be selected based on an extended abstract review, which will evaluate the clarity of the content, as well as the validity of the research questions, hypotheses, results and conclusions. Furthermore, the short paragraph (maximum 100 words) which summarizes the content of the abstract for the general public will be evaluated in this step. The talks of the finalists will be evaluated by both a present jury and a public vote. The evaluation will consider several factors, including the structure and coherence of the talk, the quality of the presented results and conclusions, the clarity and readability of the slides, the presentation style, and the ability to give clear answers to questions. Remember, the goal is to make your research understandable and memorable to the audience, so plan your talk accordingly!

Will my presentation for the finale have to be very different to a “standard” congress presentation?

As described above, particular emphasis should be placed on communicating your research in a way that is understandable yet engaging to the audience you are addressing. At EuropaCat, your audience will be catalysis researchers from different backgrounds and working in different areas of catalysis. You will be presenting your research in a general session where people from all these different areas will be present - and your aim should be that all of them can follow your presentation easily. You are not expected to introduce the very basic concepts of catalysis, but bear in mind that you may need to describe techniques and methods that you use. For example, a researcher working on homogeneous catalysis should be able to follow a talk on electrocatalysis and vice versa.

When will I know if I am one of the finalists?

The finalists will be announced alongside the results of the general abstract review process for EuropaCat 2025 by April 2025. You will receive further instructions after the announcement.

Does entering the contest have any influence on my chances of being selected for an oral presentation at EuropaCat 2025?

No, entering the contest does not affect your chances of being selected for an oral presentation. Your abstract will simply undergo an additional review step after the regular congress review process. Entering the contest neither increases nor decreases your chances of being selected for an oral presentation at the congress. However, if you are selected as a finalist, you will be allowed to also bring a poster with you without any additional cost.

Will it be possible to get an oral presentation in a regular session of EuropaCat 2025 in addition to the short oral presentation during the final session of the contest?

No, the general rule that each congress participant can only present one oral contribution still applies. This means that if you are selected for the finale of the YEuCat Contest: Research in a Nutshell, you will not be able to give an oral presentation in another session of EuropaCat 2025. However, you will be allowed to also bring a poster with you without any additional cost.

Final clauses

There is no legal claim to the award of the prize. By entering the contest you agree that YEuCat, EFCATS and the organizers of EuropaCat 2025 are allowed to announce your name on their websites and social media should you be selected as one of the finalists.  

Link to the abstract sumbission webpage