Decision Analysis Society Student Paper Award

Decision Analysis Society Student Paper Award is given annually to the best decision analysis paper by a student author, as judged by an award selection committee.

For this award, decision analysis is defined as a prescriptive approach to provide insight for decision making based on axioms that are logically consistent with the axioms of von Neumann and Morgenstern and of Savage. Key constructs of decision analysis are the utility to quantify one's risk preferences and the probability to quantify the state of one's knowledge.

The intent of the award is to recognize the best publication in decision analysis, by a student. This includes, but is not limited to, theoretical and methodological contributions to decision analysis, descriptions of applications, and experimental studies. We encourage all types of relevant research methodologies, including applied probability theory, data science, decision theory, game theory, machine learning, optimization, and statistics, as long as the link to prescriptive decision making is clear. Publications addressing behavioral aspects of decision making are eligible if the relevance to the theory or practice of prescriptive decision analysis is clear. Nominated publications will be judged for significance, relevance, originality, quality of execution, and readability.

The award includes an honorarium of $500 and a plaque.

Eligibility

Students who have not yet completed their Ph.D. prior to May 1, 2024 are eligible for the 2024 competition.

The majority of work, including writing, must be that of the student, though faculty members or other mentors can be co-authors if appropriate. Papers need not be published, but published, peer-reviewed, papers will be given careful consideration. Unpublished manuscripts should be 30 pages or fewer (double spaced and 11-point font) and in the standard format of the Decision Analysis journal.

Application Instructions

To be considered for this year's competition, please email both committee co-chairs at the addresses given below, by the deadline: July 21, 2024 (11.59 pm US Eastern time), with subject "DAS Student Paper Award 2024 Submission,” with the title and authors of your submitted paper, and your final submission of:

1. An electronic version of your paper in PDF format, blinded. (That is, there should be no authors' names and affiliations, self citations should be done in a manner to not reveal the authors' identity, and no references to grants or other versions of the paper should be present.)
2. A letter in PDF format from one faculty co-author (if any) articulating your role in writing this paper.