Competition Rules

The YEAR2010 competition rules are outlined below and all rules must be followed.

1. Only one entry will be accepted per person per pillar and all entries must fall into one of the outlined pillars.
2. Students cannot submit the same abstract under different pillars.
3. All submitted entries will automatically give their permission for their abstract to go public on the website. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that such publication does not breach the copyright of others.
4. All abstracts must be the students own work. Students may submit work already published, provided it is their own work and its publication to the YEAR2010 website does not breach copyright.
5. The deadline for submission of entries is 15^th March 2010, at 5 pm Central European Time. Any entries beyond this time will not be accepted.
6. All abstracts must be no less than 300 words and no more than 500 words. It may contain up to 5 diagrams, images or figures as appropriate. It is required to be submitted as a PDF file.
7. Only entries submitted within the online submission section of the YEAR2010 website will be accepted.
8. The competition is open to early-stage researchers registered in a college or university from across the European Union, EU Candidate Countries, Potential EU Candidate Countries and European Economic Area¹.
9. An early-stage researcher is defined herein as an undergraduate student in the final year of their programme or a postgraduate student in a PhD programme or in a postgraduate programme leading to a PhD².
10. Students who graduate from a PhD degree before the submission deadline of 15^th March 2010 are not eligible to apply.
11. Group or individual entries are eligible for all pillars; however only one nominee will be supported to travel to TRA10.
12. All successful finalists or group nominees of finalists will be given the opportunity to display their work at the TRA 2010 Conference in the form of mandatory posters. Audiovisual displays and/or models may be used depending on space limitations of the exhibition space.
13. Winners will be acknowledged on the YEAR2010 website and may be acknowledged on the websites of the stakeholders, e.g. ERTRAC, FEHRL and ECRTI.
14. All finalists will receive a contribution towards their accommodation and travel expenses to the TRA10 Conference in Brussels, Belgium³. The contribution is dependent on the point of origin within Europe⁴ which should be the students’ normal place of study. It is a condition of this award that the student attends the conference.
15. It is up to all finalists to organize their own travel arrangements to Brussels. The organizers will endeavour to make available low cost accommodation, subject to availability. If available, early booking is advised. Alternately, students may make their own arrangements.
16. The winning student prizes consist of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and rosettes to display on their exhibition poster. All finalists will be given a certificate acknowledging their achievement.
17. Entrants must provide all requested details when entering the competition, as outlined in the Application Form.
18. Entrants must comply with all rules to be eligible for the prizes. No responsibility is accepted for ineligible entries or entries made fraudulently.
19. Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them when entering this competition.
20. The YEAR2010 organisers do not accept any responsibility for late or lost entries due to poor performance of the Internet – applicants are advised to apply as early as possible. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.
21. Without the expressed permission of the organisers, this competition is not open to employees or contractors of the TRA Conference, or anyone already involved or participating in it, or any person directly or indirectly involved in the organisation or running of the YEAR2010 competition, or their direct family members.
22. The Judges decision is final in every situation including any not covered above and no correspondence will be entered into.

23. The Judges reserve the right to have discretion regarding the rules.
24. The organisers reserve the right to cancel the competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in their opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of their control. The competition will be cancelled if financial support anticipated by the organisers does not materialise. In such circumstances, no costs will be refunded.

• ¹ Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.
• ² Programme leading to a PhD is defined as Stage 1 in a two stage programme or a Research Masters where it is common place to transfer from this into a PhD programme.
• ³ Students resident in Brussels are ineligible for travel expenses.
• ⁴ Near Europe - Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom; Mid Europe - Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain; Far Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey.