SPR Cup 2010 Competition

Call for Applications for the Fifth Annual Society for Prevention Research Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup, June 3, 2010, Denver, CO

Significant advances in prevention science are often due to a team of individuals working closely together across many years. In recognition of the importance of the collaborative process to the field, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) will sponsor a friendly competition amongst teams of researchers for the honor of bringing home the traveling Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup for the 2010-2011 academic year.

The Cup is named for two of the founders and long time active members of SPR, Dr. Zili Sloboda and Dr. William Bukoski. The Cup competition is an opportunity for an unique experience: several independent teams of scientists, each working with the same data set, problem solve together for a brief period of time and then jointly present their ideas to each other and a larger group of experienced prevention scientists.

Annual Meeting

The 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research will be held in Denver, CO from June 1 through June 4, 2010. The meeting includes one day of high quality pre-conference training workshops on topics relevant to prevention science. The theme for the meeting this year is "Cells to Society: Prevention at All Levels". The conference hotel will be the Grand Hyatt Denver. Last year, 800 prevention scientists, practitioners, and advocates attended the meeting.

Competition

SPR Cup teams will receive a data set via email two months prior to the annual meeting. Each team then will conduct a literature review, generate hypotheses, conduct analyses, and prepare a presentation for a 10-minute symposium talk on their results.

Teams will present their results during an invited symposium at the SPR annual meeting. A panel of senior prevention scientist judges and the audience at the symposium will rate the quality of the research work and of the presentation. Both verbal and written feedback will be provided to teams about their work. Over 80 scientists attended this symposium last year.

The highest scoring team will be recognized and awarded the SPR Cup during the SPR Awards Ceremony. Past team champions include the Sun Devil Scholars from the Prevention Research Center from the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University in 2006, the Prevention Geeks from the State of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in 2007, the Prevention Fellows from the Prevention Research Center of the College of Health and Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University in 2008, and Penn State Pride from the Prevention Research Center of the College of Health and Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University in 2009.

Teams

Teams are limited to five members. Each team should include participants with knowledge and practical experience in research methodology, data analysis, and conference presentation. Members may be from the same department or institution or multiple departments or institutions. Each team will designate a team captain, who will participate in several SPR Cup conference calls during the spring of 2010.

Eligible Participants

Eligible participants for teams are individuals who are either (1) currently enrolled in a masters or doctoral training program, or (2) have received their terminal graduate degree within the last 5 years and have not yet been a principal investigator on a research grant from a federal agency or private foundation.

Data Set

A public data set relevant to prevention science will be used. Example data sets that have been used in past competitions include Monitoring the Future and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The identity of the data set will be released during a conference call of team captains on April 1, 2010.

Mentors

An experienced SPR Cup mentor will be assigned to advise each team and will be available for consultation via phone or email on an as needed basis.
Teams may access other mentors as desired. All mentors must be acknowledged during the presentation.

Publication

All participating teams will be strongly encouraged to refine their analyses after the meeting and to generate publishable products. The highest scoring teams may be invited to submit a manuscript to be considered for publication in SPR's flagship journal Prevention Science. To date, several teams have published manuscripts related to their SPR Cup presentations in peer-reviewed journals, including Prevention Science. Other manuscripts are in progress.

Application Process

To apply, send an email to marke@oslc.org with the subject line "2010 SPR Cup Submission". Within the email, for each team member, please include name, highest academic degree, current position, primary institutional affiliation, a brief summary of research skills and expertise, and contact information. Please list a team name and designate a team captain. A receipt of submission will be sent to the team captain.

Up to four teams will be accepted for the competition this year. Teams whose members meet the qualifications above will be accepted in the order of when applications are received.

The deadline for applications is February 12, 2010. Accepted teams will be informed via email by February 19, 2010.

Further Information

Questions are welcome. Please contact:

J. Mark Eddy, Ph.D., and Charles R. Martinez, Jr., Ph.D.
Co-Chairs, Fifth Annual Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup marke@oslc.org and charlesm@oslc.org
(541) 485-2711