AAG 2027 GISS-SG Student Honors Paper Competition (In-Person): Abstract Deadline - Oct 15, 2026

AAG Annual Meeting: New York, New York, Feb 8, 2027–Feb 12, 2027

The Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group (GISS-SG) of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) is pleased to announce the 2027 Honors Competition for Student Papers on Geographic Information Science and Systems topics to be presented at the annual meeting. The purpose of this competition is to promote scholarship and written and oral presentation by students in the field of GIS. Papers are invited from current graduate and undergraduate students on any topic in geographical information systems and geographic information science.

Any paper that advances any aspect of GIS is welcome. We encourage papers on theoretical, conceptual, and methodological developments in GIS as well as on particular innovative GIS applications. Papers must be based upon original work, completed as an undergraduate or graduate student, relevant to the field of GIS and current GIS research. Papers must be mainly written by the applicant, but having co-authors is allowed. Students who are selected as finalists will be placed in a special session at the annual meeting. A single submission can only be submitted to one AAG special group honor paper competition. The only exception is a student who is also selected as a Nystrom Dissertation Award finalist, in which case, they may present in the Nystrom paper session instead.

IMPORTANT DATES
– Oct 22, 2026: extended abstract (~1000 words, no longer than 5 pages, including the reference) and AAG abstract PIN due to Dr. Di Zhu at dizhu@umn.edu (please use email subject: “2027 AAG GISS Student Honor Paper Competition – First and Last Name – Grad/Undergrad”)
– Nov 20, 2026: finalists notification
– Jan 8, 2027: for graduate student finalists, full paper due to Dr. Di Zhu at dizhu@umn.edu; for undergraduate student finalists, no full paper required. 

Note:  prior to the extended abstract submission, you must already have submitted your conference abstract on the AAG website at which point you will obtain your abstract PIN (AAG Abstract Submission Deadline: Oct 15, 2026).

AWARDS
Finalists will be selected on the basis of the quality of extended abstracts. 5-10 students will be selected each year as finalists depending on the number and quality of submissions. Each finalist will receive a travel award of $200 to compensate for their travels to AAG for the oral presentations. Subsequent to the oral presentations, there will be special additional awards for the top 2 presenters, which will be determined following the on-site presentation session – the prizes of $500 for the 1st place and $250 for the 2nd place. The awards are decided on the basis of the written paper or extended abstract (for undergraduates) and the oral presentation. The awards committee reserves the right to not offer such prizes if the papers are not of sufficiently high quality. The results of the competition will be published in the AAG Newsletter and the GISS-SG newsletter, as well as on the specialty group's web page and social media. The top selected papers will be invited to submit their work to a special issue dedicated to the GISS-SG Student Honors Paper Competition in the Journal of Geographical Systems.

ELIGIBILITY & JUDGING
The competition is open to students at all academic levels. Any paper first-authored and presented by a student is eligible for the competition, provided the paper has not already been published or presented somewhere. There is no limitation on the number of co-authors, however, the applicant student is required to be the first author. The extended abstract no longer than 5 pages, demonstrating novel GIS methods, toolkits, or applications of GIS to solve a real-world problem, is used by the GISS-SG Awards Committee to choose the competition finalists. Graduate student finalists must submit a paper of a substantive nature that constitutes an expanded discussion of the material to be presented orally at the annual meeting. Full paper submission is not required for undergraduate finalists. The extended abstract/paper can only be submitted to one AAG special group honor paper competition. Applicants must be a current member of the AAG GISS Specialty Group (GISS-SG). For instructions on how to become a member of the Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group, simply contact the AAG.

Extended abstracts and full papers will be judged by the GISS-SG Awards Committee (Chair, Vice Chair, Academic Director, Communications Director, Commercial Director, Governmental Director, and Student Director) on several criteria: potential contribution to the field of GIS, originality, appropriate use of methodology, scholarship, organization, and written composition. The oral presentation of papers will be judged on professional delivery, organization, clarity, and appropriate use of graphics. Judging will take into account the academic level of the applicants.

FINALISTS
Finalists will be notified by Nov 20, 2026. Each graduate student finalist will be asked to submit a written paper of about 4,000-6,000 words, expanding on the material in the extended abstract. This paper will be due no later than Jan 8, 2027. Details about the extended abstract and final written paper are provided below on this page.

GUIDELINES FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS
To be considered for participation in the GIS paper competition, an extended abstract must be submitted (about 1000 words, no more than 5 pages including figures; references don't count to the page limit) (12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and single-spaced lines). Applicants must clearly indicate that they wish to be considered for the GISS-SG Student Paper Competition. All submissions not accepted for the competition by the awards committee will be incorporated into the AAG meeting program in other sessions. Students can use the Word Template or Latex Template for extended abstract submissions. Applicants must also submit an AAG abstract PIN which is issued when successfully submitting an abstract for the AAG meeting (in other words, you must register for the AAG in-person meeting and submit a short abstract using the AAG's registration website, before submitting your extended abstract to the GISS-SG competition). The extended abstract and AAG abstract PIN are due to the GISS-SG Academic Director. Please send abstracts with “2027 AAG GISS Student Honor Paper Competition – First and Last Name – Grad/Undergrad” headline via email as an attachment (Microsoft Word or PDF) to Dr. Di Zhu (dizhu@umn.edu).

GUIDELINES FOR FULL PAPERS
Papers, including the related bibliography and associated tables and figures, should be submitted in the format used by the International Journal of Geographical Information Science (see www.tandfonline.com/action/… ). A cover page listing the author's (or authors') name(s), student status, academic affiliation, faculty advisor for the paper, mailing address, phone numbers, and email address should also be included. The second page should include only the title of the paper and the 250-word abstract. The content of the paper should begin on the third page. The final written paper should be submitted electronically via email to Dr. Di Zhu (dizhu@umn.edu) as an attachment (12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, double spaced). The content of the paper is limited to about 20 pages in length (including text, references, figures and tables, about 4000-6000 words total).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

See the GISS-SG Student Honors Paper Competition webpage.

Please send all submissions and inquiries to:
Dr. Di Zhu
Academic Director, Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Environment & Society, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Email: dizhu@umn.edu