Best Paper — USD 150
A full paper, shortlisted from review scores and decided by the oral presentation.

Best Impact in Latin America — USD 150
A full paper, shortlisted from review scores and decided by the oral presentation, with regional-impact criteria.

Best Poster — USD 100
An abstract/poster. Candidates opt in with a signed declaration, and the award is decided during the poster session.

Marcela Iregui Award to the Emerging Latin American Female Scientist — USD 250
An emerging female scientist. Candidates apply independently, and no paper is required.

A paper or poster is eligible only if its first author is a student or an early-career researcher and that same person presents it. All of the conditions below must be met; failing any one removes the work from the competition, but not from the conference program.

* Career stage. The first author is a student or an early-career researcher.
* First author presents. The first author personally gives the oral presentation or is present at the poster during the judged session. A presentation by a co-author, supervisor or colleague is accepted for the program but makes the work ineligible for an award.
* In person. The presentation takes place at the scheduled session.
* Registration. The first author is registered for SIPAIM 2026.
* Declaration. Each finalist's first author (and each Best Poster candidate) signs a declaration of their career stage and their commitment to present. False declarations void any award, even after it is given.
* Original work. The work has not received an award at another conference before SIPAIM 2026.

Awards Committee members, Organizing Committee chairs and judges cannot be first authors of eligible work. Their students and co-authors remain eligible, but they are evaluated only by judges without a conflict of interest.

Definitions

* Student. A person enrolled in an undergraduate, Master's or PhD program, or in a medical or clinical residency, on the submission deadline. Students who defended or graduated within the 12 months before the submission deadline still count as students.
* Early-career researcher. A person who was awarded the PhD (or equivalent terminal degree) no more than 3 years before the submission deadline, does not hold a professorship of any rank, and is not the principal investigator of an independent research group nor in a permanent senior position in academia, a hospital or industry. Typical examples are postdoctoral fellows, research associates on fixed-term contracts, and engineers or clinicians early in a research career.
* Career breaks. The 3-year window is extended by documented career breaks: 18 months for each child for maternity, 6 months for each child for paternity, and the actual length of breaks for long illness, caregiving or mandatory service.
* Senior researcher. Anyone who is neither a student nor an early-career researcher. Senior researchers are welcome as co-authors and supervisors, but cannot be the eligible first author or presenter for these awards.

Both awards are chosen from shortlisted full papers and decided by the oral presentation. In 2026 both awards share a single list of 10 finalists, and a paper can win only one of them.

* Shortlisting. After review, the Awards Committee ranks all accepted full papers by their mean review score. The top 10 papers are invited as finalists for both awards.
* Confirmation. Finalists are notified by email and must confirm the first author's career stage and that they will present. A finalist whose first author is not eligible, or who does not confirm, is replaced by the next-ranked paper.
* Best Impact. In addition to the general eligibility, the paper must have a clear link to Latin America: at least one author affiliated with a Latin American institution, or a problem, dataset or application rooted in a Latin American health or research context.
* Evaluation. At least 3 judges score each finalist's oral presentation on a 1–5 scale per criterion. The final score is the weighted mean across judges. Ties are broken first by review score, then by a committee vote.
* One paper, one award. Best Paper is decided first. The Best Paper winner is removed from the Best Impact ranking, and Best Impact goes to the remaining finalist that meets the Best Impact requirements and has the highest score.

Best Paper criteria

* Clarity and organization of the presentation — 20%
* Scientific relevance and originality — 25%
* Methodological rigor and technical quality — 25%
* Contribution to medical imaging — 15%
* Quality of answers during Q&A — 15%

Best Impact in Latin America criteria

* Clarity and organization of the presentation — 15%
* Scientific relevance and originality — 15%
* Methodological rigor and technical quality — 20%
* Relevance to Latin American healthcare or research challenges — 20%
* Potential translational or social impact in the region — 20%
* Quality of answers during Q&A — 10%

Best Poster follows the same presenter and career-stage rules as the paper awards, but candidates are not shortlisted: every eligible poster that opts in is judged during the poster session.

* How to opt in. Poster authors receive an email before the conference with the instructions to opt in with a signed career-stage declaration.
* Evaluation. At least 2 judges visit each candidate poster during the official session and talk with the first author. A poster whose first author is not at the board when the judges arrive gets a second visit later in the session; if the author is still absent, the poster is not scored.
* Scoring. Each criterion is scored 1–5 and the final score is the weighted mean across judges. Ties are broken by a joint visit from two committee members.
* The winner cannot also receive Best Paper or Best Impact in the same year.

Best Poster criteria

* Clarity and visual quality of the poster — 25%
* Scientific merit and originality — 30%
* Quality of discussion and answers to judges — 25%
* Overall impact and communication effectiveness — 20%

This award recognizes a woman's career and potential, not a paper. It needs no paper at SIPAIM 2026, and it can be combined with any other award. It honors the memory and legacy of Prof. Marcela Iregui by recognizing an emerging female scientist from Latin America, or working in the region, who shows exceptional promise in research and leadership.

Eligibility

* Self-identifies as a woman.
* Is a Latin American national, or is currently studying or working at a Latin American institution.
* Is a student or an early-career researcher on the application deadline. Professors and holders of permanent senior positions are not eligible.
* Works in medical imaging, biomedical engineering or a related field.
* Is not a previous winner of this award.
* Is registered for SIPAIM 2026 (any registration category) and attends the closing ceremony to receive the award.

How to apply

Applications are submitted through a separate form, independent of paper submission. The application deadline is November 18, 2026.
* Curriculum vitae.
* Career plans letter, maximum one page: research interests, academic achievements and future aspirations.
* One recommendation letter from a supervisor or mentor, sent directly by the recommender to sipaimconference@gmail.com, with the applicant's full name in the subject.

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Evaluation criteria

At least 3 committee members score each complete application on a 1–5 scale per criterion. Achievements are judged relative to career stage, so an undergraduate is not compared with a postdoc on publication count.
* Academic excellence and research achievements, relative to career stage — 35%
* Leadership, mentoring, outreach and service to the community — 25%
* Clarity and ambition of the career plans — 20%
* Commitment to advancing research in Latin America — 20%

* Combining awards. A person can hold at most one work-based award (Best Paper, Best Impact or Best Poster) per year, plus the Marcela Iregui Award. If a first author would win two work-based awards, he or she receives the higher-ranked one (Best Paper, then Best Impact, then Best Poster) and the other passes to the next candidate.
* Conflicts of interest. A judge does not score work by their own students, co-authors from the last 3 years, or people from their own institution.
* No award. The committee may decide not to give an award if no candidate reaches the expected standard.
* False declarations. If a false career-stage declaration is discovered after an award, the award is withdrawn and the prize must be returned.
* Final decisions. The Awards Committee's decisions are final. Scores are confidential; candidates may ask for brief written feedback after the conference.