Student Competitions

For questions regarding student competitions, please contact cic-coordinator@cheminst.ca

Reg Friesen Student Oral Paper Competition

Sponsored by the Chemistry Education Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada

This competition is intended to encourage students to present papers of general interest concerning the following: critical evaluation of their educational experiences, innovative learning/teaching strategies and materials, and other topics that address chemistry or chemical engineering education. This is a non-technical presentation.

Eligibility

This competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in a chemistry or chemical engineering program. Participants must submit their application by the deadline of Apr. 24, 2026, in order to secure their participation in the Reg Friesen Student Oral Paper Competition.

Deadline

Apr. 24, 2026

Award

1^st prize Chemistry: $300 and a certificate

1^st prize Chemical Engineering: $300 and a certificate

Abstract submission

Abstract should include the title, presenter name(s), university, and a summary (100 to 200 words) for your talk. Participants are asked to submit through the student competition portal.

Talk format

The oral presentations will be 8 minutes in length (depending on the number of participants) followed by a 2 minute question period.

Judging

There will be a panel of 3 judges representing industry, government, and academia.

Reg Friesen Student Oral Paper Competition Winners

TBD

Robert G. Auld Student Paper Competition

Sponsored by the Robert G. Auld Fund

This competition allows students to speak on any aspect of chemical engineering. This can include work experience as well as a design or research project. This presentation is of a technical nature.

Eligibility

This competition is open to undergraduate students currently enrolled in a chemical engineering program. Participants must submit their application by the deadline of Apr. 24, 2026, in order to secure their participation in the Robert G. Auld Student Paper Competition.

Deadline

Apr. 24, 2026

Award

1^st prize: $300 and a certificate

2^nd prize: $200 and a certificate

3^rd prize: $150 and a certificate

Abstract submission

Submit an abstract including the title, presenter name(s), university, and a summary (100 to 200 words) of your talk. Participants are asked to submit through the student competition portal.

Talk format

The oral presentations will be 8 minutes in length (depending on the number of participants) followed by a 2-minute question period.

Judging

There will be a panel of 3 judges representing industry, government, and/or academia.

Robert G. Auld Student Paper Competition Winners

TBD

3-Minute Pitch Competition

Eligibility

The participant should be an undergraduate or graduate student in a chemistry or chemical engineering program. Participants must submit their application by the deadline of Apr. 24, 2026 in order to secure their participation in the 3-Minute Pitch Competition.

Deadline

Apr. 24, 2026

Competition procedure

Abstracts should be written in layperson terms. The research pitch abstract should address the problem that the research project aims to solve, the participant’s contributions, and the significance of these contributions. Shortlisted candidates will be notified to participate in the 3-Minute Pitch Competition after the abstract submission deadline.

Rules for the competition

Participants will present to the judging panel in an open forum.
Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum.
Competitors exceeding 3 minutes will be cut off and judged on their presentations up to the 3-minute mark.
The timer starts when the presenter starts their presentation through movement or speech.
Only one static PowerPoint slide is permitted per presentation. The slide should be in widescreen (16:9) format.
The competition will be in English.
No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) are permitted.
No additional props (e.g., costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
The decision of the judging panel is final.

Submissions

Submit an abstract including the title, presenter name(s), university, and a summary (100 to 200 words) of your talk. Participants are asked to submit through the student competition portal.

Awards

1^st place Undergraduate: $300 and a certificate

2^nd place Undergraduate: $200 and a certificate

3^rd place Undergraduate: $100 and a certificate

1^st place Graduate: $300 and a certificate

2^nd place Graduate: $200 and a certificate

3^rd place Graduate: $100 and a certificate

Judging Criteria

Research Pitch

Participants in the 3-Minute Pitch Competition will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Aim and description of the research: Clear explanation of hypothesis, objectives, and the specific research questions being tackled; methods used to answer the research questions; results (if available).
Novelty and impact: Originality of research, its relevance, and potential impact.
Presentation: Communication skills, effective use of visuals, accessibility of presentation, and audience engagement.

The judging panel for the 3-Minute Pitch Competition will be composed of individuals from academia, industry, and science communication.

3-Minute Pitch Competition Winners

TBD

ChemiSTEAM - Putting the A(rt) in STEM

ChemiSTEAM – Putting the A(rt) in STEM

As chemists and chemical engineers, we often focus on the practical utility of our discipline. Beyond being merely useful, chemistry can also be beautiful. To celebrate the beauty of the chemical world, the x2026 Conference will feature a juried exhibition of original chemistry-inspired art. We welcome submissions, from all areas of chemistry and chemical engineering, including images previously shared on social media. Send us photographs of experiments, computer-generated representations of theoretical concepts, reproductions of original paintings, or any other images that relate to the field. Winning submissions will be displayed throughout the conference for all delegates to view and discuss, with a public exhibition component as well.

Submissions
Submissions are welcomed for still images & short videos related to all areas of chemistry and chemical engineering. Entries may include but are not limited to, photographs, experimental data, or computer-generated graphics. A limit of one submission per contestant will be considered.

Only electronic submissions will be considered. Images should be .jpeg, .jpg, or .png format and should be between 1 – 10 MB. The submission should be accompanied by a short description (maximum 280 characters) that explains the subject of the submission and how it was obtained or generated. For entries in which the subject matter is original non-digital artwork (such as a 3-dimensional object), up to 3 images of the same object may be submitted for evaluation.

Eligibility

This contest is open to all members of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE), Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), or registered participants of Canadian Societies for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 2026 Conferences and Exhibition (x2026). Contestants must be 18 years or older. The contestant must be the creator of the image and must retain its copyright. Images that have previously been submitted to another image contest or that have appeared in peer-reviewed publications are not eligible. Contestants are welcome to submit images that have previously been posted to social media sites.

Deadline

Apr. 24, 2026

Judging
Images will be judged by a jury of experts and will be evaluated based on their quality, creativity, and relevance to chemistry. Winning entries will be displayed at the Canadian Societies for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 2026 Conferences and Exhibition (May 24-28) in Toronto.

Contestants retain the rights to their submissions but grant the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) and its parent organization, the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display, reproduce, and distribute images and videos submitted to this contest. The CSC reserves to right to modify submissions in order to optimize their appearance for display.

Plant Design Competition

The Design Competition is a prestigious event organized annually as part of the Student Program of the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (CSChE). It is open to undergraduate chemical engineering students across Canada. Teams present a detailed design of a process, showcasing their technical competence, creativity, economic and environmental considerations. Finalists present their work at the x2026 Conference, where they are evaluated by a panel of industry professionals and academics from across the country. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top 3 groups.

Deadline

Apr. 24, 2026

Sponsor

To be announced

Award

1^st place: $1500

2^nd place: $1000

3^rd place: $750

Eligibility

Individuals and groups of undergraduate students must have been registered in a chemical engineering program at a Canadian university during the academic year.
As most design projects are carried out in the final year courses, recent graduates are also eligible to apply (those that graduated within the last 2-3 years).
Each chemical engineering program may only submit one entry. Therefore, groups must receive support from their respective programs (see more information in the Application Requirements).
Participants must submit their application by the deadline of April 24, 2026, in order to secure their participation in the Plant Design Competition.
There is no limit on the size of the team, but prizes will not scale accordingly.

Note

There is no limit on the size of the team.

Judging

The competition is judged entirely at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference in the following two stages:

The first stage is a poster competition, where all teams present their posters as per Instructions for Presenters on the conference site. Typically, judges spend 10-15 minutes with each team to ask questions. The top three teams are announced on the same night.
The second stage is an oral competition, where each of the top three teams from the poster competition is asked to give a 30-minute oral presentation (including answers to questions) about their project to a panel of judges.

Application Requirements

Applicants must be student members of the CSChE. The application must be submitted in electronic format through our online portal, and must include the following:

An executive summary of the project (abstract) including a simplified flow sheet of the process.
List of authors/co-authors
Statement of the initial information provided to the students (maximum two pages) from the submitting Professor/Department
Letter from submitting Professor/Department stating (max. 3 pages):
- That the information is not confidential
- That the project is above the level of expectations in terms of quality and/or complexity and contains elements of creativity or novelty and;
- If the designed plant is an improvement/expansion of an existing plant, a new plant and if a similar/identical plant exists

Applications that do not include the required documentation may not be considered for the competition.

Plant Design Competition Winners:

TBD

Student Competitions