Cash Prizes for Cyber Conflict Case Studies
AFCEA International, the Cyber Conflict Studies Association (CCSA) and the Atlantic Council have collaborated to create a cyber conflict history case studies contest. Up to six prizes of up to $1,000 will be awarded for the best submissions. The call for entries begins December 15, 2011, and the deadline for entering the competition is June 1, 2012.
The contest comprises three entrant categories: university students, military service members and professionals who do not qualify in either of the first two categories. Prizes will be awarded in each group, and authors must specify which they are entering when submitting their papers.
Each first-place winner will be awarded $1,000, and each second-place winner will receive $500. An additional $500 prize will be awarded to an international student. Award-winning entries that meet editorial criteria will be considered for inclusion in future CCSA journals or an upcoming Comprehensive History of Cyber Conflict publication. In addition, they may be selected for presentation at a future cyber conflict history conference. Authors of the winning papers automatically will be considered for an internship or employment at the Atlantic Council or the CCSA.
In evaluating the papers, judges will consider originality (35 percent), strength of the argument and recommendation (35 percent), clarity (20 percent), and spelling, grammar and syntax (10 percent). The CCSA panel of judges will conduct the initial evaluation of the papers. Experts in cyber conflict from the AFCEA Cyber Committee will assess the finalists and choose the winners.
Papers must be between 7,500 and 8,500 words in length. The format must be 12-point type and double-spaced. To ensure anonymity of the author during judging, the document must not include the author’s name on any page. Each page of the submission must show the exact title of the paper as the header.
Additional information about the competition, including the list of case studies and complete competition rules, can be found in the official call for papers posted online. More information about CCSA and research resources is available on the CCSA website.
Participants should email entries or questions to Karl Grindal, writing competition project manager, by April 15, 2012, with their name, choice of case study and entrant category. Authors who would like to cover a case study not listed or change topics after April 15 should contact the project manager.
