Junior MANRRS Chapter of the Year Award Contest

Sponsored by Purdue University's College of Agriculture, the Junior MANRRS Chapter of the Year Award (COYA) is a contest to recognize a chapter for achieving more than excellence throughout the year. Any chapter meeting the eligibility requirements can compete for COYA. Chapters will be recognized for exceptional participation and engagement in advancing the MANRRS mission. Winners will be announced and recognized at the annual training conference and career expo.

Eligibility: Junior MANRRS chapters.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest Guidelines.  

Junior MANRRS Impromptu Speaking Contest

The Impromptu Speaking Contest is designed to develop the ability of MANRRS members to express themselves on a given subject without having prepared or rehearsed its content in advance. The contest provides an opportunity to grow public speaking skills and critical thinking as contestants formulate their speeches in a limited time. The competition requires contestants to think quickly, present concisely and persuasively, and provide sufficient responses to questions posed by judges based on their speech. 

Eligibility: Junior MANRRS members.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest Guidelines.

Prepared Speech 

The Prepared Speech Contest, formerly known as the Public Speaking Contest, allows undergraduate students to gain experience in expressing themselves orally before an audience. This contest has two rounds. Selection of the top 6 submissions will compete at the annual training conference and career expo in front of a panel of 3-4 judges and answer questions.

Eligibility: Junior MANRRS members.

For complete contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines.

Junior MANRRS Written Essay Contest

The Written essay contest allows students to gain experience in expressing themselves through writing. Essays will be judged by a panel of 3-5 judges, and the winners will be selected before the annual training conference and career expo.

Eligibility: Junior MANRRS members.

For full contest guidelines, please visit the National Contest guidelines. 

Chapter of the Year Award Contest

The Chapter of the Year Award (COYA) is a contest to recognize a chapter for achieving more than excellence throughout the entirety of the year. Any chapter meeting the eligibility requirements can compete for COYA. Chapters will be recognized for exceptional participation and engagement in advancing the MANRRS mission. Winners will be announced and recognized at the annual training conference and career expo.

Eligibility: Collegiate MANRRS chapters.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest Guidelines.  

Business Pitch

Have an idea for a new business or non-profit you would like to start? Then enter the

Business Pitch Contest! You will have 5 minutes to describe your idea and why it will change your university or local community. Your business can exist later, but the idea & pitch must relate to agriculture, natural resources, and/or environmental businesses or nonprofits. Think “Shark Tank” meets MANRRS! Instead of asking for investment, our judges will award the top presenter with prize money.

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate student collegiate MANRRS members. Applications may be submitted by individuals or teams of up to four (4) people consisting of all undergraduate or graduate students. Teams consisting of both undergraduate and graduate students are not permitted. 

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest Guidelines. 

Impromptu Public Speaking

The Impromptu Public Speaking Contest hosted during the annual training conference and career expo follows the same guidelines as the contest hosted during regional clusters.

Eligibility: 1st and 2nd place winners of the contest hosted during the preceding regional cluster season. Any “submissions” received from MANRRS members that do not meet this requirement will be automatically disqualified. 

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines.

MANRRS Bowl

Eligibility:

• Any collegiate chapter in good standing may submit one team of undergraduate members. 
• Members may compete twice during their membership.
• Past members of 1st Place teams cannot compete again (Alternates who did not compete at any point are exempt).
• Violating these eligibility rules may result in disqualification, suspension from future competitions, or the return of any distributed awards.

For full contest guidelines, please the official contest guidelines. 

Oral Research Presentation

The Oral Research Presentation Contest allows undergraduate and graduate students to gain exposure and experience presenting their research before an audience. Graduate and undergraduate students will be judged in separate contests. The top ten contestants will be invited to present at the annual training conference and career expo. Students will select the division to which they are submitting their research abstracts for competition: 

• Division I: Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences 
• Division II: Education, Social Sciences and Business 

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate collegiate MANRRS members.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

Photography

The Photography Contest provides MANRRS members with the opportunity to express their love for agriculture and related sciences in an artistic form. 

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate collegiate MANRRS members; Junior MANRRS members

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

Research Poster

The Research Poster Contest provides collegiate MANRRS members with an opportunity to gain experience presenting research in digital poster form before an audience. Undergraduate and graduate students will be judged in separate contests. Posters can be entered as “Competitive” or “Non-Competitive”. Those in the “Competitive” division that do not make the Top 10 will be invited to showcase during the “Non-Competitive” division. Students should select the division they are submitting their research abstracts for competition:

• Division I: Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences
  • Undergraduate Student
  • Graduate Student
• Division II: Education, Social Sciences and Business
  • Undergraduate Student
  • Graduate Student

  
  

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate student collegiate MANRRS members.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest Guidelines. 

Research Review

The Research Review Contest is for collegiate MANRRS members and focuses on improving their ability to review and discuss research articles. Additionally, the contest aims to prepare contestants to communicate effectively and succinctly when discussing scientific topics in the workspace.

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate collegiate MANRRS members.

Article: All essay submissions should be based on this linked article.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

MANRRS Theme

The MANRRS Theme Contest seeks to identify next year's guiding motto and inspirational message. This theme will be central to the messaging that shapes the MANRRS spirit throughout the year and builds excitement for the next annual conference. Set the tone by submitting your inspiring theme idea for MANRRS! 

Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate collegiate MANRRS members; Junior MANRRS members

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

Written Essay

The Written Essay Contest allows undergraduate students to gain experience in expressing themselves through writing. Essays will be judged by a panel of 3-5 judges, and the winners will be selected before the annual training conference and career expo.

Eligibility: Undergraduate collegiate MANRRS members.

For full contest descriptions, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

Prepared Speech 

The Prepared Speech Contest, formerly known as the Public Speaking Contest, allows undergraduate students to gain experience in expressing themselves orally before an audience. This contest has two rounds. Selection of the top 6 submissions will compete at the annual training conference and career expo in front of a panel of 3-4 judges and answer questions.

Eligibility: Undergraduate collegiate MANRRS members.

For full contest guidelines, please see the National Contest guidelines. 

Three-Minute Thesis (3MT ®) 

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT ®) Contest was developed by The University of Queensland (UQ) to celebrate the exciting research conducted by Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students. The contest was developed to cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The MANRRS 3MT has been adapted to provide this opportunity to all graduate student members in good standing within the national organization. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Eligibility: Graduate student collegiate MANRRS members.