The objective of the competition is to promote and disseminate excellence and to stimulate the willingness of congress participants to submit and present high quality talks. This award aims to celebrate inspiring and effective presentations and engage participants even further and encourage them to put as much effort as possible into raising the the standard of speeches. Presentations will be judged according to the following criteria:

• clarity of expression and quality of presentation.
• Originality: The paper is innovative and constructively confront with new or complex problems of GIS applications in the humanities. 
• Significance and relevance: The paper makes an important contribution to the current debate and the advancement of knowledge in GIScience. 
• Methodological rigour and excellence: The paper uses robust and appropriate methods to address the research question. 
• Potential impact: The paper has the potential to alter prevailing theory or practice in GISscience.
  

The winner will be elected by the conference participants. Contributions of the plenary and closing plenary session as well as invited talks are not eligible.