2025 SADA Dental & Oral Health Congress and Exhibition

The 2025 Young Publisher Competition will be hosted at the SADA Dental & Oral Health Congress & Exhibition 2025, which will be held from the 25th – 27th July 2025 at the International Convention Centre, Durban. 

We therefore request Deans and their relevant Heads of Department to encourage candidates to participate in the Young Publisher Competition. Eligible primary applicants must be an undergraduate or postgraduate student. To enter for the competition, E-posters will be submitted and then reviewed to determine the finalists, who will then be invited to compile a Power Point/End-note presentation for judging at the congress. 

Digital posters (E-Posters) can be submitted by the following categories:  

1. Undergraduate research 
2. Postgraduate & non-degree research 

IMPORTANT DATES FORM THE COMPETITION 

• E-poster Submission opens 24 February 2025 
• E-poster Submission closes 20 June 2025 
• Accepted E-poster letters sent to top 3 E-posters 25 June 2025 
• Judging of finalist presentations (Power Point/End-note) 25 July 2025 
• Presentation on Main Podium 26 July 2025 
• Award Ceremony 26 July 2025 

The top three selected finalists, for each of the two categories, will be invited to a 20-minute (maximum) oral presentation session with the judges. The slot will comprise a 10-minute Power Point/End-note presentation by the participant and 10-minute discussion/questions opportunity for the judges. English will be language for both the E-posters as well as for Power Point/End-note oral presentation. Answers given should be clear and concise reflecting an understanding of the subject matter. 

ELIGIBLE RESEARCHERS 

1. The principal candidate for both categories must be 35 years of age or younger at the time of the Young Publisher Competition. 
2. Co-researchers can be older than 35. There can be a maximum of 6 co-authors. 

GUIDELINES FOR THE E-POSTER IN ORDER TO ENTER FOR THE COMPETITION 

E-poster format and structure  

• Word count limit - maximum 2000 words 
• Title 
• Background/Significance of research project 
• Aims and objectives 
• Methods 
• Results 
• Discussion 
• Conclusions 
• Images and tables allowed 
• Text size 14 Arial

All E-posters will be in digital format 

JUDGING OF FINALIST ORAL PRESENTATIONS AT THE CONGRESS 

Judges will follow the preselected criteria for the judging of the oral presentations and specific venue for presentations will be communicated to the finalists. Finalists should report to the judging venue at least 30 minutes before the Judging Session. 

There will be one winner for each of the two categories and will be announced at the Gala dinner on Saturday, 26 July 2025 at the Durban International Convention Centre. 

The Young Publisher Competition judging criteria is as follows: 

CRITERIA for judging of oral presentations 

Appearance 

• Does the presentation make an impression on the viewer? 
• Professional appearance; good flow of information; logical layout; easy to read; neatness. Is there any grammar or spelling mistake? 

Title 

• Clear and concise; specific; adequate. 

Background 

• Provides sufficient rationale for pursuing the study. 

Aims and Objectives 

• Clearly stated and relevant. 

Methods 

• Strong and appropriate for testing this hypothesis or fulfilling the study objective. 

Ethics 

• Research ethical considerations appropriately addressed  

Results 

• Quality of the graphs, tables and figures; complexity of the results; validity of these statistical methods. 

Discussion 

• Shows a rational understanding of the results and literature. 

Conclusions 

• Reflective of the Aims and Objectives; supported by data; consistent with the hypothesis being tested.  
• Are the limitations of study/suggestions for future research identified? 

Scientific content 

• Relevant; contributing to the advancement of Dentistry. 

AWARD CEREMONY 

Finalists will be invited with their partners (partner's travel expenses will not be covered to attend the Gala Awards Function on 26 July 2025 when the winner, for each of the two categories, will be announced.  

SADA YOUNG PUBLISHER AWARD 

1st Category: Undergraduate research 

The first prize will include the following: 

• Award winner/s shall be announced in the SADJ 
• Free SADA membership for 2026 
• Cash Prize of R6000.  
• Free attendance at the SADA Dental & Oral Congress and Exhibition for the following year 

The second prize 

• Cash Prize of R3000 

2nd Category: Postgraduate- and non-degree research  

The first prize will include the following: 

• Award winner/s shall be announced in the SADJ 
• Free SADA membership for 2026 
• Cash Prize of R6000 
• Free attendance at the SADA Dental & Oral Congress and Exhibition for the following year 
• 4 x SADA Branch Event speaker slots during 2025 /2026 (expenses for travelling will be covered by SADA) 

The second prize 

• Cash Prize of R3000 

Contact persons: Prof Dirk Smit (dsmit@uwc.ac.za) and Prof Riaan Mulder (rmulder@uwc.ac.za) 

                  (Please send E-posters via email to these e-mail addresses) 

 Dr Jean van Lierop 

SADA Scientific Advisory Convener 2025