Papers Due: December 12, 2011
The Graduate Student Affinity Group (GSAG) is pleased to announce the 2012 GSAG Student Paper Competition. The competition seeks to promote the dissemination of graduate student research through written and oral presentations. Papers are invited from current students on any topic and specialty area within geography. Submissions must be presented by the author during the 2012 AAG Annual Meeting or associated pre- conferences in the days before the AAG conference. We do not require that they are part of a session sponsored by the GSAG.

Students interested in participating should submit a paper in Word document format, including figures and references, by December 12, 2011. No late or incomplete submissions will be accepted.

Submissions should be sent to David Parr: daveparr@txstate.edu.

Award Amounts: There are two awards available. 1st place will receive $200 and 2nd place will receive $100. The GSAG reserves the right to increase or decrease the number and value of awards based upon the quality of submissions and available funds. Winners will be announced during the GSAG’s annual business meeting at the AAG Annual Meeting.

Paper submissions must:
• Be a research paper (review and concept papers will not be judged)
• Be limited to 4000 words not including figures or references. (Papers of more
than 4000 words will not be considered)
• Be based upon original research for which the graduate student is the lead
author
• Be presented at the 2012 AAG conference or a pre-conference in the days before the 2012 AAG conference
• Be in a style appropriate for submission to a peer-reviewed journal
• Be emailed as a Word document, double spaced

Eligibility:
This competition is open to all graduate student members of the GSAG presenting original research of which they are lead author. Papers must be presented at the 2012 AAG conference or a pre-conference in the days before the 2012 AAG conference. Students must be fully registered for the conference and be members of the GSAG at the time of submission. Students may not win this award more than once (do not apply if you have won this award previously).

Winner Expectations:
If a winning manuscript appears in print, an acknowledgement of financial support from the GSAG would be appreciated.