The New South Wales branch offers 3 awards:
- Prize of Excellence for Leadership
- Young Members Awards
- John Christian Young Food Microbiologist Award
6.8.1.1 Prize of Excellence for Leadership
(a) In 2004 the NSW Branch first offered a prize to a student graduating from an institution offering food and food-related courses subject to the conditions below. The Prize is a voucher for $500 and is redeemable against:
· Institute membership
· attendance at Institute Annual Conference or special conference (e.g. Australian Food Microbiology Conference)
· attendance at meetings/talks/tours
· Green/Gold/Blue Books, and/or
· purchase of any course-related texts.
(b) Conditions:
(i) The Institute has the naming rights - the AIFST Student Prize of Excellence, and presents the Prize at an appropriate institution award-giving ceremony or other event if mutually agreeable.
(ii) An official Certificate will be presented with the graduating student’s name included in a format approved by AIFST (NSW Branch).
(iii) The name of the institution/logo should also appear on the Certificate.
(iv) The institution must have an active AIFST Student Champion and Support Lecturer who disseminate Institute information at appropriate institution events such as careers nights, industry days etc. and provide the Institute with relevant course details and information, student numbers etc. on an annual basis. (Information Packs are provided to participating institutions, comprising membership forms, brochures, laminated posters for noticeboards and an Institute presentation in both PowerPoint and OHP format).
(v) The institution must document the process for awarding the Prize, and submit to AIFST (NSW Branch) for approval. Minimal inclusions are:
(a) description of the panel who will award the prize.
(b) the criteria for which the prize will be awarded. Note that the criteria may appear below the title e.g. AIFST Student Prize of Excellence for Leadership, Academic Performance etc.
(c) the number of graduating students participating in the course(s) from which potential candidates were selected.
(d) proposed presentation event, date and time, if available, and
(e) an example of a suitable submission format for Institute approval is shown in Appendix 7.10.
6.8.1.4 Young Members Awards
(a) Introduction
(i) The NSW Branch offers Awards to members of the Institute who are under 30 years of age as of 1 July of the year of the competition.
(ii) The Awards are based on a presentation of any food science or food industry related subject the competitor may choose.
(iii) An Award is provided in both undergraduate and postgraduate categories.
(iv) The Award presentations are preferably held during the month of October.
(b) Costs
(i) This Award is given subject to a suitable sponsor(s) awarding the full cost of the prizes.
(ii) NSW Branch may cover the cost of refreshments and any other cost related to use of the facility that may be required.
(iii) It is preferable but not compulsory that all Institute members wishing to attend can do so without charge. Non- Institute members may be charged a fee at the discretion of the NSW Branch.
(c) The Awards
(i) Undergraduate Category
The Awards are at the discretion of the sponsor(s) but may consist of:
· 1st Prize: Two to three (2-3) month paid traineeship with the sponsor’s company or other company as negotiated by the sponsor, to be undertaken over the period December-February. The Award winner would receive paid on-the-job training in the food industry and be mentored by the sponsor’s company or other company as negotiated by the sponsor.
· The winner of the undergraduate category can also elect to receive a cash prize as determined by the sponsor(s).
· 2nd and 3rd Prize: A cash prize of $100 each or as determined by the sponsor(s).
(ii) Postgraduate Category
The Awards are at the discretion of the sponsor(s) but may consist of:
· 1st Prize: An AIFST Voucher to the value of $750 (with a 3 year expiry) that may be used for:
o any Institute branded meetings, including the Annual Convention,
o any Institute branded publications,
o Institute membership,
o any career-related professional development activity (subject to Institute approval).
*NB Winner may elect to receive $750 cash
· 2nd and 3rd Prize: A cash prize of $200 each or as determined by the sponsor(s).
(d) Conditions of Entry
(i) Applicants must be financial members of the Institute (includes student members) and be under the age of 30 at 1 July.
(ii) Applicants are required to submit an abstract (maximum 150 words) on a food science or food industry related topic of their choosing to the Young Members Award Champion who will be a member of the NSW Branch committee. The abstract must be typed (not hand written) and may be submitted by email, mail or any other means by the required closing date which is generally 3 to 4 weeks before the date of the presentation.
(iii) The applicants must be available to present at the time and day of the Young Members Award as outlined in the NSW Branch Newsletter.
(e) Selection criteria
· If more abstracts are received than can be accommodated in either category, a culling process will be used.
· The culling process will be based on the applicants’ abstracts and will be assigned to the NSW Branch Chairman and a minimum of two (2) other members who do not have a conflict of interest.
· Each abstract will be awarded a score out of 10 based on content, clarity and a demonstration of knowledge of the subject. The scores will be tallied and the top three from each category (Undergraduate and Postgraduate) will be selected to present at the Young Member Award events.
(f) Judges and Judging Criteria
· The judging panel will consist of a minimum of three (3) people and preferable an odd number (3 or 5).
· The judges will be Institute members and senior food industry professionals or past winners of the Young Members Award (Postgraduate Category).
· The sponsor(s) may nominate one judge in each category.
· The judging criteria are determined in advance and will be based on technical knowledge, presentation skills and ability to answer questions.
· The judges’ decision is final.
(g) Award Presentations
(i) Undergraduate Category
· Undergraduate means a candidate actively enrolled in a Diploma, Tertiary Certificate course (TAFE) or Degree course of a food science or related discipline, or a nutrition or marketing or business studies course (food related).
· Preferably there will be at least three speakers presenting on the night of the event. Speakers in the undergraduate category will be required to present for approximately 10-12 minutes and answer questions for 3-5 minutes on their selected topic.
(ii) Postgraduate Category
· Postgraduate means a candidate actively enrolled in or has been awarded a Degree, Honours Degree, Master, PhD or Graduate Diploma in a food science or related discipline, or a nutrition or marketing or business studies course (food related).
· Preferably there will be three speakers presenting on the night of the event. Speakers in the postgraduate category will be required to present for approximately 12-15 minutes and answer questions for 5 minutes on their selected topic.
6.8.1.5 John Christian Young Food Microbiologist Award
(a) Purpose/relevance of the Award
(i) The John Christian Young Food Microbiologist Award was created to encourage and support the development of young food microbiologists.
(ii) Costs of the Award are borne by the NSW Food Microbiology Group.
(b) Costs of the Award
(i) The Award winner receives:
· $500 cash
· a suitably inscribed plaque
· one copy of the Green Book (“Foodborne Microorganisms of Public
Health Significance”), and
· one copy of the Gold Book (“Spoilage of Processed Foods – Causes
and Diagnosis”).
(ii) Each participant receives:
· one copy of the Green Book (“Foodborne Microorganisms of Public
Health Significance”)
· one copy of the Gold Book (“Spoilage of Processed Foods – Causes
and Diagnosis”).
(iii) The event is deliberately run at “no cost to attend” to attract the attendance of students and their families. The venue is chosen to be available at no cost (e.g. Food Science Australia).
(iv) Additional costs for catering amount to the cost of snack food and some beverages.
(c) Eligibility criteria
(i) Applicants must be under 30 years of age at the time of presentation.
(ii) Participants are not required to be Institute members or students.
(d) Rules and procedures for the Award
(i) There must be at least two applicants. Up to six finalists may be chosen from the applicants to give a presentation of their chosen topic. The call for abstracts is only advertised in NSW. The NSW Food Microbiology Group reserves the right not to hold the event in any particular year if the calibre of applications is not considered sufficiently high.
(ii) Applicants must declare any sponsorship that they have received in the preparation of their submission.
(iii) Finalists must make their own travel arrangements to attend the presentation.
(e) Appointment of judges and the selection criteria
(i) Three (3) judges are selected by the NSW Food Microbiology Group with preferably a background in either food microbiology or education, or an active member of AIFST.
(ii) Judges will not be selected if there is a perceived conflict of interest with the applicants, including through work or sponsorship relationships.
(iii) Finalists are chosen on the basis of a 500 word summary of a food microbiology topic. The topic and content must be related to food microbiology, including general interest topics, research work or literature reviews. This summary is assessed as part of the final judging.
(iv) Previous winners cannot reapply.
(v) The judges reserve the right not to award the prize.
(f) Method of judging
(i) The presentation time is not more than twelve (12) minutes with up to three (3) minutes for questions.
(ii) The finalists are judged according to the background research of their submitted summary paper, the technical aspects of their presentation, the effectiveness of presentation, and their handling of questions.
(iii) A marking sheet (Appendix 7.11) is used by the judges and is retained by the NSW Food Microbiology Group Chairperson.
(iv) If the judges are unable to make a majority decision, the winner is selected by the NSW Food Microbiology Group Chairperson.
Please contact the New South Wales Branch for more information
AIFST is a national association representing individuals like you from all sectors of the Australian food and allied industries, giving you exposure to all aspects of the agrifood sector.