MAX IV Laboratory strongly encourages student participation at the User Meeting. The Student Science Award provides students with an opportunity, not only to demonstrate their expertise in their subject matter, but also to deepen their understanding of the topic and encourage them to develop their scientific communication skills.

Participation conditions

Students are eligible to participate in the Students Science Award competition if:

  1. The student has already used MAX IV, OR they have a sound experimental idea that they want to propose for implementation at MAX IV. In the latter case, it is mandatory to present a well-formulated plan indicating the relevant beamline/accelerator, the scientific aim, the proposed experimental method, and the novelty of the proposed research.
  2. The participant agrees to be available to discuss their work with the adjudicators. Adjudication will take place on-site at the user meeting venue during the poster session.
  3. All students participating in the Students Science Award competition should either prepare a 1-minute clip presentation OR a written abstract for their poster. Should you choose to create a 1-minute clip, it will be published through MAX IV media channels (please inform us if you do not wish this).
  4. The winner of the MAX IV Student Science Award agrees to present their work (15-minute presentation + 5-minute questions session) at the User Meeting.
  5. The required material (the 1-minute clip OR a written abstract) must be completed and submitted by the specified deadline: Friday, 23 September 2022, at 23:59 (CET).

Participation submission

Students interested in participating in the MAX IV Student Science Award competition should:

  1. Register as ‘Student presenting a poster’ for the MAX IV User Meeting 2022, latest Friday, 23 September 2022, at 23:59 (CET).
  2. Prepare, complete, and submit through 34th MAX IV User Meeting registration site the following material:
    • A 1-minute clip OR a written abstract of your research (download our Abstract template UM22.docx suggestion). The required material should be submitted when the student is registering for the User Meeting, latest Friday, 23 September 2022, at 23:59 CET.
    • An A0 poster for the poster session on Monday, 3 October 2022. The poster’s title should be submitted together with the registration.

Tips to create and record your 1-minute presentation of your research/poster

Here are some options to record yourselves while giving your presentation in PowerPoint.

  • PC: a clear-cut example with an option to select audio and video in your presentation for recording yourself + slides. View the Microsoft 365 for Windows.
  • MAC: a workaround using QuickTime player that combines the options of ‘Movie recording’ (video, yourself) + ‘Screen recording’ (slides). Be sure to enable the device audio/internal microphone before recording.
  • Note: PowerPoint for Mac does not appear to have the same video option as PC.

If you have further questions, please contact us by email to  with the subject MAX IV Student Science Award 2022.

Selection process

The students will present their posters and discuss their work with the adjudicators during the poster session. The User Meeting organizers and a team of three external adjudicators will take the responsibility of deciding the winner of the Student Science Award (who will have a 15+5 minute slot to present her/his work at the User Meeting on Wednesday, 5 October 2022).

The evaluation guideline criteria are:

  • The capability of the candidate to summarize and explain their work.
  • The quality of the work and the level of the student’s contribution to the research presented (deduced from the submitted material).
  • The quality and impact of the work within the context of the field based on the experimental results and associated impact statement.

Decision and award

The winner of the MAX IV Student Science Award 2022 will be decided at the end of the poster session on Monday, 3 October 2022. The winning student will be informed of their selection on Monday, 3 October 2022 such that they can start to prepare their presentation. The winner will also be formally announced at the banquet on Tuesday, 4 October 2022 and the student will give an oral presentation of their work at the User Meeting on Wednesday, 5 October 2022. The award also includes a monetary prize, the equivalent of 5000 SEK.