For a second year, the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) has announced an award to recognize the best scientific paper published in 2017 on sweetpotato.

Through a generous endowment established by Dr. Jan W. Low, a principle scientist at the International Potato Center (CIP) and a 2016 World Food Prize Laureate, a prize of US$500 will be presented to the publication’s lead author. The award is intended to be split among the co-authors.

A farmer in Kenya with large orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes. The crop is rich in Vitamin A. Photo: H.Rutherford/CIP

The main criteria to assess submissions will be the originality, degree of innovation and potential impact of the research being published. Other factors are impact factor of the journal, age of the lead author (to encourage young scientists to publish), number of readings as assessed through Research Gate, number of downloads as assessed through Research Gate, number of citations as assessed through Research Gate, and collaboration with other institutions, assessed through the number of coauthors from different National Research Systems or Advanced Research Institutions.

The competition is open to all individuals who work under the umbrella of the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI). This includes staff from national agricultural research institutes, non-governmental organizations and private sector partners who work on sweetpotato, as well as staff from CGIAR Centers and Research Programs.

To enter, please submit a PDF file of your paper by email to the chair of the committee, Dr. Hugo Campos, at h.campos@cgiar.org and a cover letter stating the official citation of where the article was published, and the name, age, sex, position, institution, mailing address, email address and contact phone number of each co-author.  If the award is not to be split equally among the co-authors, the percentage going to each (based on contribution) should be specified.

The deadline to receive applications is 30 July, 2018, with the winner scheduled to be announced during the annual SPHI meeting, to be held 24 – 27 September, 2018.