Guidelines for “Zhang Si-Ying (CCDC) Outstanding Youth Paper Award”

Zhang Si-Ying, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science and a renowned expert in control, is the founder of the journal “Control and Decision” and the Chinese Control and Decision Conference (CCDC). With outstanding achievements in education and research, Professor Zhang Si-Ying is the winner of many prestigious national, ministerial and provincial awards. To recognize Academician Zhang's highly-regarded perseverance, character and academic contribution and also to inspire, motivate and encourage young scholars in their research, the conference organizing committee of CCDC sets up “Zhang Si-Ying (CCDC) Outstanding Youth Paper Award” with the following guidelines.
1． The Award
☆ The name of the Award is Zhang Si-Ying (CCDC) Outstanding Youth Paper Award;
☆ Only a maximum of two winners for the Award is allowed per year;
☆ The winner will receive an award of CNY10000 and a certificate.
☆ Each finalist will receive an award of CNY3000 and a certificate.
2． Award Committee
☆ The Award Committee comprises of 5-7 invited internationally renowned experts in the areas of the conference.
3． Eligibility and Conditions for the Award
☆ Members of the Award Committee, General Chairs and Program Chairs of the conference must not be authors of the paper;
☆ The first author of the paper must not be older than 35 on the day of award presentation at conference for the year;
☆ The first author must attend the conference to present the paper and answer questions;
☆ The first author must be at the conference for the announcement and presentation of the award.
☆ The paper should be written and presented in English.
☆ The Award Committee reserves the right to disqualify the award candidate if he or she fails to meet one of the above conditions.
4． Award Selection Criteria
☆ The award is based on both the technical quality of the paper and the oral presentation to be given by the first author of the paper.
☆ The paper must have original significant contributions to the theory and/or applications of control and decision and it should not have been published or is under review for publication in any other international journal and conference;
☆ The paper should be well-organised and well-written, clear and concise, and with appropriate references and acknowledgement. Technical conclusions should be sound, correct and defendable;
☆ The paper should be well-presented in the conference and questions should be satisfactorily answered during the presentation.
☆ The Award Committee decides the final Award winners and Nominee Award Winners;
☆ If less than two-thirds of the Award Committee Members attend the conference, the Chair of the Award Committee may invite renowned experts from the conference attendees as additional Members of the Award Committee for that conference year.
5． Award Review/Selection Process
☆ When submitting paper, the authors need to indicate “Application for Award”, and submit copies of valid identity documents (e.g., Staff Certificate, Student Certificate, Identity Certificate, or Passport) of the first author;
☆ The process of selecting the winner of the Award will go through 3 rounds:
1) In the first round, the paper is reviewed as per normal reviewing process. Based on reviewers’ comments, nominations, and the evaluations of the Technical Program Committee (TPC) member who handles the paper, the TPC decides if the paper will be selected for further considerations in the second round.
2) If selected, the paper will be sent to well-established international experts including members of the International Advisory Committee in the relevant areas for additional assessment in the second round. Based on their evaluations and recommendation, the TPC shortlists five papers as the finalists for evaluation in the third round. The finalists are announced in conference website.
3) In this final round, each member of the Award Committee attends the oral presentations of all the shortlisted finalists and independently assesses their originality, technical quality and significance of contributions, written and oral presentations. Based on the assessments, the CCDC Zhang Si-Ying Outstanding Youth Paper Award is decided by the Award Committee.
6． Announcement and Presentation of the Award
☆ During the award presentation ceremony, the winner will be announced and an award of 10000 RMB and a certificate will be presented to the winner. In addition, a confirmed finalist excluding the winner will also receive an award of 3000 RMB and be presented a `Certificate of Finalist’ during the ceremony.
7． Miscellaneous
☆ The CCDC Organizing Committees and Organizers reserve the right to amend the terms and conditions of the award guidelines.