Council of Graduate Students
at The Ohio State University

Information for Applicants

PLEASE NOTE: The Hayes Forum 2025 abstract submission deadline has been EXTENDED from Monday November 18th at 11:59pm ET to Monday December 9th at 11:59pm ET. 

General Information

Below, please find general information to help start you off in the application process. Further information on requirements for submitted abstracts, choosing an academic area of the forum for submission, and the evaluation of abstracts submitted to the forum can be found in the informational tabs to the left.

By applying for the forum, applicants affirm that they have read and understand all rules and requirements regarding scholarly/academic integrity, formatting, attendance on the day of the forum, finality of judging, and prize redemption.

Abstracts for the 2025 forum will be accepted from 12:01am ET on Tuesday, October 1st, 2024 through 11:59pm ET on Monday, December 9th, 2024.

The application link for the 2025 Hayes Forum. 

Eligibility - Graduate Students

  • All graduate students in good standing with the Graduate School, who are enrolled for the academic term in which the forum is held, in a degree-granting program are eligible to participate.
  • The individual submitting the abstract must be its primary author: The research must be based on the graduate student's substantive ideas and must be a direct product of their work.
  • Students who participated in a previous forum are eligible to re-enter (whether or not a prize was received); however, they must be presenting different research or a substantially different aspect of the same research.

Eligibility - Postdoctoral Scholars

  • A current postdoctoral scholar or the equivalent at Ohio State
  • Must be able to identify an Ohio State faculty member as an advisor/mentor. The Hayes Research Committee will reach out to this faculty member to confirm that the postdoctoral scholar may share the work as described in the abstract. 
  • The abstract and work being presented must have been generated during the scholar’s postdoctoral training at Ohio State.

Process

  1. Applicants will initially prepare a short abstract and submit it with their application. (More in-depth abstract requirements.) Please note:  Postdoctoral scholars applying for graduate sessions, or graduate students applying for postdoctoral sessions will be disqualified and not considered.
  2. Applications will be reviewed by volunteer judges from the academic area of the applicant's submitted abstract. (Information on abstract evaluation.)
  3. Selected applicants are assigned to either an oral or poster presentation based on scores. The application does not include an option to choose either oral or poster presentation, and requests for a specific modality will be disregarded. There are no poster sessions for postdoctoral scholars.
  4. Judges will attend the oral presentations or poster session on the day of the Forum. Scores, rankings, and winners will be determined based on the presentations given on the day of the forum during the presentation periods.
  5. Presentation and Poster winners will be expected to provide an electronic proceedings paper for inclusion in the OSU Knowledge Bank. (More information about this requirement.)

Prizes

  • Cash awards are paid by the Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to Graduate and Postdoctoral presentation winners (respectively). Amounts are as follows...
  • Poster Presentation Prizes - $200 for First Place, $150 for Second Place, $100 for Third Place. No cash prize for honorable mentions.
  • Oral Presentation Prizes - $600 for First Place, $400 for Second Place, $200 for Third Place. No cash prize for honorable mentions.

Read the Hayes Forum application requirements and find the application link.

Questions? E-mail the Hayes Forum 2025 Organizing Committee's Chair, Katie Conner, at cgs-hayesforum@osu.edu.