• Professional Member: Professional membership is for individuals who are engaged in the study, the practice, or the marketing of psychomotor learning, motor control, motor development or sport/exercise psychology but are not currently enrolled in training related to the field. Academic faculty and other professionals fall into this category.
• Trainee Member: Trainee membership is for individuals who are enrolled or in training full- or part-time at a recognized university in a program of study in psychomotor learning, motor control, motor development, or sport/exercise psychology. Current undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows fall into this category.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Society, please visit the Become a Member page.

The application must include the following:

• One brief cover letter indicating (i) materials submitted, (ii) the current professional status of the applicant (iii) a brief chronological history of student status, and (iv) details regarding the submitted paper including: the relationship of the submitted paper to the student’s overall thesis and the state of submission regarding the submitted paper. With respect to the latter this includes the journal title of any intended or submitted work. Eligible papers can have been published up to 12 months preceding the Franklin Henry Young Scientist Award application deadline (so papers published in the last calendar year are eligible for consideration for the Franklin Henry Young Scientist Award).
• One curriculum vitae. The CV should conform to the five headings below:
  1. Demographic information pertaining to post-secondary education, including dates and supervisor name.
  2. Any awards (related to education and research) related to graduate study.
  3. Publications (including submitted and in-press) along with indications of contribution to the paper (i.e., whether this was part of your PhD, Masters, or other RA work). This information is especially important on multi-authored papers.
  4. Conference presentations.
  5. Other relevant research and/or extracurricular activities (e.g., visiting researcher, organizer of conference workshops, knowledge translation activities, USport athlete, volunteer or clinical experience).
• One copy of the scholarly paper. The page limit for the submitted scholarly paper is 25 double spaced pages excluding tables, figures, and references. (Note: manuscripts that have been submitted or accepted for publication at the time of award submission which fit outside of this 25 page limit will be permitted). Preferably, the paper will follow APA guidelines (7^th edition), although for published/submitted work, adherence to journal guidelines will be accepted. All submissions should include an abstract (max 300 words). The submitted paper must be part of the student’s thesis and representative of current work (i.e., either not published or if published, published in the year preceding the application for the YSA).
• Data previously presented or submitted to a journal can be used in the scholarly paper.
• Papers that do not adhere to the submission criteria will not be reviewed.

Application

For the 2025 competition (deadline: May 5, 2025), please upload a single PDF file containing all application materials to the appropriate portal: (1) Sport Psychology; (2) Exercise and Health Psychology; or (3) Motor Learning/Control. You can only submit to one of these three areas. Applicants will be notified of decisions by June 9, 2025. Applicants not chosen for the award are encouraged to resubmit their abstracts as part of the regular conference program. For questions, please contact the Director of Sport and Exercise Psychology (Dr. Sebastian Harenberg; sharenbe@stfx.ca) or the Director of Motor Learning and Control (Dr. Tristan Loria; tristan.loria@wsu.edu).

Award Adjudication

The award will be judged both on the student’s CV (50%) and the quality of the submitted paper (50%) as evidence of thesis-related work.

The reviewers will be considering the quality of the submitted Scholarly Paper based on the following criteria:

• Scientific/methodological rigor (e.g., strong design, appropriate to the research question addressed, appropriate sample size).
• Innovative/originality (e.g., uses a new methodology, has novel implications, focuses on an underserved population, poses an original research question).
• Scientific merit/contribution (e.g., provides insight into conceptualization of theory or construct, advances understanding, clear potential application).
• Clarity of presentation (e.g., well-written, grammatically correct).

The Curriculum Vitae will be judged on impact of work and scholarly promise as evidenced by the following:

• Journal publications (quantity, quality, and contribution).
• Academic awards.
• Conference participation (quantity, diversity, and leadership roles).
• Any other relevant information pertaining to research-relevant training and excellence.

Past Recipients

Nomination Guidelines

The SCAPPS conference has been an outstanding knowledge dissemination forum since 1969. More importantly, SCAPPS has showcased Franklin Henry Young Scientist Award winners, who are outstanding research trainees. Many more outstanding trainees have benefited from the rich scholarly environment provided by the SCAPPS conference. These outstanding students have been trained by excellent mentors and supervisors. As a result, the SCAPPS Executive would like to recognize faculty members with an exceptional record of trainee supervision and mentorship. These supervisors have had a positive influence on their trainees through research training and/or other efforts that have enhanced the career paths of these individuals. Trainees may include graduate and undergraduate students, research associates, postdoctoral and early career researchers.

The process to nominate a supervisor/mentor requires a former trainee filling out a nomination ballot (see attached) accompanied by two (2) support letters from former trainees addressing the listed criteria. [Note: The rationale for not accepting letters from current trainees is to avoid submissions that could induce any conflicts of interest]. The application for the award should also include an email or letter from the nominee confirming acceptance of the nomination, and a short CV (no more than 10 pages) that includes a list of current and former trainees and demonstrates a consistent presence of participating at SCAPPS conferences. The nomination package should be sent to the SCAPPS Past-President (Erin Cressman; erin.cressman@uottawa.ca) by August 15, 2025. The Past-President will ask at least two (2) reviewers from the Professional SCAPPS membership to assess all complete applications received and adjudicate the appropriate number of awards. The award need not be conferred in a given year. A Professional SCAPPS member can only receive the award once.

Each award winner will receive a plaque/certificate as well as a formal letter of recognition at the Annual General Meeting.

Application

Click here to download the nomination form.

Past Recipients