Doreen and Jim McElvany
2009 Nonproliferation Challenge Essay Contest
A $10,000 grand prize contest to find and publish the most outstanding new papers in the nonproliferation field.
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the
Monterey Institute of International Studies strives to combat the spread of
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to state and non-state actors by
training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists and disseminating
timely information based on cutting-edge research and analysis.
In order to spur new thinking and policy initiatives to address today's most urgent proliferation threats, CNS and its journal, the Nonproliferation Review, created an essay contest to identify and publish the most outstanding new scholarly papers and reports in the nonproliferation field. Our priority is to generate new insights and specific recommendations for resolving today's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons challenges, including those involving both state and non-state actors.
Eligibility
This contest is open to persons worldwide, except for current faculty, staff, interns, and students of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, past winners of this contest, and anyone involved in reviewing
or judging submissions. To be eligible for the student prize, an entrant must be
enrolled at a college or university at the time of
submission. A team of authors comprising one or more students and non-students is not eligible for the student prize.
* Students are eligible for the
grand prize.
How to Enter
On or before May 15, 2009, e-mail your entry to essaycontest@miis.edu.
A valid entry consists of two parts:
- a completed official cover sheet [Word DOC]
indicating the name(s) of
the author(s), address, telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), indication of
status as a student at the time of entry (yes or no, undergraduate or graduate),
date of birth, title of the submission, and a one paragraph biography of the
author(s) (the cover sheet is the only place where this information should
appear); and
- the submitted essay.
Submission guidelines
Potential entrants are
strongly encouraged to review recently published articles in
The Nonproliferation Review, including
previous winners of this contest, to become familiar with our style and format, as
well as recent scholarship in this area.
Entries
should not exceed
10,000 words (including endnotes), or approximately
40
double-spaced pages. All entries must be the original, unpublished work
of the author(s) and must not be under consideration for publication
elsewhere.
All entries must be submitted as a Microsoft Word
document and must conform to The Nonproliferation Review's
style guidelines.
To preserve anonymity,
self-referential endnotes and excessive citation of one's own work are
discouraged.
Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be
considered.
Submission deadline
11:59 PM (Eastern time, North America), May 15, 2009
Judging
Upon receipt, all
submissions will be logged, acknowledged via e-mail, and assigned a unique entry
number that will replace the cover sheet for identification purposes. Anonymized
submissions will then be forwarded to The Nonproliferation
Review's editors for screening to ensure compliance with all contest
rules. Submissions that do not comply with the rules will not be
considered.
Once all submissions have been
logged and screened, they will be forwarded to the judging panel, comprised of
selected members of the CNS staff, the Review editorial board, and other
experts in the field. A list of the judges will be posted on the contest web
site after the winners have been
announced.
Judging will be based equally on the following criteria:
originality, creativity, adherence to the theme, writing quality, and strength of recommendations.
CNS reserves the right to choose fewer
than two winners if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient
number of eligible and qualified entries. Judges' decisions are final and
binding on all matters relating to this
contest.
Winner notification
Winners will be
notified by telephone, mail, and/or e-mail on or before June 30, 2009.
If a
winner cannot be contacted within 14 days of the initial attempt, CNS reserves
the right to disqualify the designated winner and award the prize to a runner-up
selected by the judges. Information about the winning entries will be posted on
the contest web site on or before June 30, 2009.
Only authors whose essays become finalists will be eligible to receive critical feedback about their entries.
Prizes
One Grand Prize of
$10,000 will be awarded to the author(s) of the best paper from all entries, as
determined by the panel of judges. After the Grand Prize winner is selected,
non-student entries, which will not be identified to the judges as such until
this stage, will be set aside and the judges will select the best overall
student essay (or the second best, if a student submission wins the Grand Prize)
for the $1,000 Outstanding Student Essay Prize.
In the case of an entry with
multiple authors, the prize will be divided equally between the authors.
The
winning papers will become the property of CNS and may be published in a future
issue of The Nonproliferation Review, which will have sole
discretion over the manner and timing of publication. Any and all
federal, state, and local taxes on a prize, and any other costs, fees, and
expenses associated with the acceptance and use of a prize are the sole
responsibility of the winners.
Ownership/Use
All submissions shall become the property of CNS and The Nonproliferation Review
for a period not to exceed six months from the
submission deadline of May 15, 2009. All rights will revert to the author(s)
by that date or upon receipt of a letter from The Nonproliferation
Review releasing such rights, whichever comes
first.
General/Legal
By
participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these rules and the
decisions of CNS and the judges, which shall be final and binding in all
respects relating to this contest; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless
CNS, and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, and the respective officers,
directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing
(collectively, "Released Parties") from any and all injuries,
liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or
property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from
entrant's participation in the contest or any contest-related activity,
the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize (including any
travel or activity related thereto) or Released Parties' use of any of the
rights granted herein; and (c) to the use of his/her name, city, state, and
country of residence, essay and/or likeness for advertising, publicity and
promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and
on the internet, and in perpetuity by CNS and its designees, without
compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or
any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute
specific consent to such use if asked to do
so.
Released Parties are not responsible for late,
lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, inaccurate, illegible, undeliverable,
delayed, or destroyed entries or e-mail; or for any computer, network, mechanical,
typographical, printing, human or other error or difficulty relating to or in
connection with this contest, including, without limitation, errors or
difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the
contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes or
in any contest-related materials. Released Parties are not responsible for
entries that are transmitted late or incorrectly or are lost or misdirected for
any reason including computer, telephone, paper transfer, human or other error;
or for electronic, computer, or telephone malfunction or error, including
inability to access any web site associated with the contest or to process any
submission thereon. CNS reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel,
modify or suspend any portion of the contest should causes beyond its control
corrupt the administration or security of the contest.
Questions or comments
E-mail The Nonproliferation Review
editor Stephen Schwartz at Stephen.Schwartz@miis.edu.
