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Economics Modelling Award

Quantitative modelling of economic and financial phenomena.

Competition Guide


I. Entry Requirements

1. Eligibility

a) Each participating team shall consist of 1–3 high school students from the same school (except MIT PRIMES), led by 1–2 instructors.
b) The participating team (including those working under external guidance) must have achieved original scientific research results.
Student Status:
Eligibility is determined based on whether the participant is an enrolled high school student at the time of registration. Cross-school teams are not permitted.
Instructor Qualification: 
The instructor must be a teacher from a high school, university, or research institution, and all information must be provided truthfully. Instructors can not be affiliated with companies, training centers, or any profit-oriented organizations. If the organizing committee has reason to believe that a participant’s research report was completed under the guidance of such an organization, it reserves the right to disqualify the student from the competition and revoke any awards received.


2. Division

South Division:

Zhejiang/Jiangsu/Shanghai/Guangdong/Guangxi/Hainan/Sichuan/Hunan/Guizhou/Yunnan/Xizang/Chongqing/Fujian/Jiangxi/Anhui

North Division:

Beijing/Hebei/Tianjin/Shanxi/Shandong/Inner Mongolia/ Sinkiang /Heilongjiang/Jilin/Liaoning/Henan/Shanxi/Ningxia/Gansu/Qinghai

Participating teams from overseas can choose any one of the south division and the north division.

Overseas:

There are two overseas regional programs: Asia, USA.

Asia regional program covers all of Asia except Mainland China. For details on its program, please go to its website: https://yashk.org.hk/yau-award

USA covers all districts, states and provinces in the USA and Canada.

If a team consists of students from more than one region, the program Executive Committee reserves its discretion to direct the concerned team to participate in a region of the Committee’s choice.

If a team consists of students from outside the noted regions, the program Executive Committee reserves its discretion to direct the concerned team to participate in a region of the Committee’s choice.


3. Application Process

a) Online account registration, submission of team and individual information.

b) Online submission of research reports and other required materials. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Registration website: https://www.yau-science-awards.org/login.html


4. Required Materials

a) Information of the participating team and individuals (to be completed online).

b) Research Report:

i. Format: PDF file.

ii. Each Report should include the following:

– Cover Page: name of student(s), province/state and country of the school with which the student(s) are affiliated, name of instructor(s), and title of the Report.

– After Cover Page: Title, Author(s), Abstract, Keywords, Table of Contents, and Body Text.

– Bibliography: starting on a separate page.

– Acknowledgment: describe the roles and contributions of each team member in completing the Research Report and, if applicable, any external assistance for the research.

– 

Declaration of Academic Integrity.docx: please read carefully and sign.

iii. Requirements for the Research Report:

– Any form of plagiarism or other academic misconducts are strictly prohibited.

– References to existing research methods and conclusions must be indicated with clear citations and included in the bibliography. Each participating team should observe the common standard of academic integrity adopted by most  journals or degree theses.

– The research content and research process must not violate laws and regulations, or general principles of public order and social customs.

– The research subject must not include food, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or medical instruments that may entail physical or psychological harms to human beings or animals.


Research_Report_Template.docx


c) Plagiarism check report

A plagiarism check report of the final Research Paper must be submitted before the deadline of the Research Report submission. (Recommended plagiarism check platforms: HowNet, PaperPass)

d) Supplementary documents (optional): such as experiment videos or relevant text/graphic materials.


5. Special Notes

a) Registration and the submission of all materials must be completed through the online system. Submissions of hard copies alone will be deemed invalid.

b) The information of instructor(s) and participating student(s) cannot be changed after the deadline for the final Research Report submission.

c) It is possible for a student to participate in the competition of multiple disciplines, but one can only register in the competition of any discipline once.

d) If the participating team has submitted or published the same research report in other competitions, related information must be provided in the “research report submission” section during the account registration process.

e) If a final Research Report’s percentage of similarity exceeds 10%, the Organizing Committee will disqualify the participating team. In the extreme case of full-text plagiarism, all the participating teams from the same school will be disqualified from the competition. In addition, the school and its act of blatant plagiarism will be publicly reported.

f) Research Reports selected for the National Final will be published on the official website for public review within a period of seven days.

g) A contestant is allowed to submit more than one paper to compete in one year. In this case, the following rule applies. The papers submitted for competition by an author must not contain substantial overlap with each other. The author must also disclose clearly in the introduction of each submitted paper, the list of all papers being submitted for competition in the same year. The author and his submitted papers shall be disqualified without further review, should this rule be violated.


II. Schedule

    Please pay attention to the website content, and refer to the latest announcement released annually for details.



III.Guidelines for Research Areas and Selection Criteria

  1. Relevance to economics sciences ( including finance ). The scope of study covers all fields of economics ( including finance ). The research topic has direct contribution or methodological contribution to the interpretation of economic problems.

  2. Originality in choice of subject for investigation and/or  choice of techniques :
         Subjects for investigation could be either original problems or existing conjectures. A participating team is responsible for adequate literature review on the background or originality of its problems. A problem known to the learned community in general, but unknown to the participating teams do not constitute originality.

  3. scientific and rigorous.
         The method and conclusion must be correct, and the concepts, deduction and empirical test process involved in the subject must be scientific and rigorous.

  4. Scholarship and clarity of written report :
         A report has to be well written, with an abstract in less than one page, review of the background problems and methodology, and citation of references. The report must also make clear distinction between background materials and original contributions.

  5. If applicable, scholarship and clarity of spoken presentation :
         An oral presentation should demonstrate the background of the problem, key background materials, and above all, the teams’ original contributions.

  6. If applicable, demonstration of teamwork :
         In oral presentation, it is expected that every participating student will speak on behalf of the team in an organized manner.

  7. Academic ethics and integrity


IV. Evaluation Mechanism

September – November: Divisional Competition

November – November: Public review of Research Reports entering the National Final.

December: National Final and Award Ceremony (Location: Tsinghua University).

The National Final includes oral defense of the Research Report in English and will be reviewed by an international committee.


V. Intellectual Property

Original work and results are the intellectual belongings to the participants and this is respected by S.-T. Yau High School Science Award. The S.-T. Yau High School Science Award only reserves the first right of refusal on the works of award winners. Winners should approach the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award before they publish their works or derive any benefit from it. In addition, works of winners may be used in part or in full for the promotion of S.-T. Yau High School Science Award in future.


VI. Public Review

The S.-T. Yau High School Science Award is open to public review. Any organization or individual that objects to the qualifications of the teams entering the National Final may file a complaint, along with supporting evidence and contact information, to the Organizing Committee before the end of the seven-day period of public review. After receiving the complaint, the Organizing Committee will invite a team of experts to review the case. The Organizing Committee solemnly promises that information of the objecting organizations and/or individuals will remain confidential.


. Disclaimer

  1. The Organizing Committee of the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award reserves the right to interpret the above entry guidelines.

  2. This Award aims at stimulating the interest and creativity of high school students in conducting fundamental science research, discovering and cultivating young scientific talents, and enhancing the connection between secondary education and higher education. The results of the Award is not directly associated with the future enrollment in higher education of any participating individuals.