Call for SPR Cup Team Letters of Intent: 20th Annual Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup

Letters of Intent are due by 11:59 PM Pacific on
Monday, February 9, 2026

Significant advances in prevention science are often due to teams of individuals working closely together across many years. In recognition of the importance of the collaborative process to the field, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) sponsors a friendly annual competition amongst teams of early-career researchers for the honor of bringing home the Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup. The Cup is named for two of the founders and long-time active members of SPR, Dr. Zili Sloboda and Dr. William Bukoski. The competition is an opportunity for a unique experience: several teams of scientists, each working with the same dataset, will develop a research question, analyze the data accordingly, and present their work to each other and to a panel of senior prevention scientists and the SPR membership.

Competition

  • The presentation component of the competition will take place during the annual SPR meeting, to be held May 26 through May 29, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Washington, DC. At least one team representative must be in Washington, DC, to present on behalf of the team. Other team members may present virtually. Travel funds are not provided, although all team members are encouraged to apply for travel funds through SPR’s ECPN travel awards. (See SPR website for details from 2025: https://preventionresearch.org/2025-annual-meeting/travel-awards/).
  • Eligible teams will be asked to prepare a 1-page research proposal outlining their research questions and analyses.
  • Four teams will be chosen as finalists based on their research proposal.
  • Leading up to the meeting, each team will conduct a literature review, generate hypotheses, and conduct analyses using the competition dataset.
  • Each team will present a 15-minute talk based on their results during a highlighted, invited symposium at the SPR annual meeting.
  • A panel of senior prevention scientist judges and the audience at the symposium will rate the quality of the research and of the presentation. The highest-scoring team will be recognized and awarded at the SPR Awards Ceremony in 2026.

Teams

  • The composition of each team should include at least three and no more than five team members, including the captain.
  • Eligible team members are individuals currently enrolled in a master’s or doctoral training program or in a postdoctoral position/training program. Each team should include participants with knowledge and practical experience in research methodology, data analysis, and conference presentation.

Dataset

Mentors

  • An experienced mentor in prevention science should be identified. This person should be available for consultation in person or via videoconference, phone, or email on an as-needed basis – and especially during the month leading up to the conference. Mentors may advise but may not conduct work for their team. All mentors must be acknowledged during the presentation. Teams are invited to engage mentors from multiple disciplines to consult with them as they work.

Criteria

  • Presentations will be judged on eight criteria: 1) Innovation of Project, 2) Depth and Usefulness of Statistical Analyses (including using appropriate analyses for sample), 3) Ability to Draw Meaningful Conclusions from the Data, 4) Significance of the Project to Prevention Science, 5) Quality of Verbal Presentation (including use of bias free language), 6) Quality of Visual Presentation, 7) Quality of Responses to Judges/Audience Questions, and 8) Connection with the SPR Annual Meeting Theme.

Publication

  • All participating teams are encouraged to refine their analyses after the meeting and to generate publishable products. The highest-scoring team may be invited to submit a manuscript to be considered for publication in SPR’s flagship journal, Prevention Science. If so, the manuscript will undergo the regular peer review process.

Letter of Intent and Acceptance Process

Step 1. Submit Team Letter of Intent and Verify Eligibility

  • To apply, one person for each team should complete this Google Form: https://forms.gle/AYug4d9eZpJhxzok9.
  • In the form, you will be asked to provide each team member’s name, email address, mailing address, highest academic degree, current position, primary institutional affiliation, current training program, and a brief summary of research skills and expertise. You will also be asked to designate a team captain and a team primary mentor.

Letters of Intent are due by 11:59 PM Pacific Monday, February 9, 2026.

Step 2. Develop Research Proposal

  • Teams have until Tuesday, March 3, 2026, to submit their 1-page research proposal (more details to come). Proposals will be assessed based on the quality of their research questions and relevance to this year’s conference topic.

Step 3. Present at SPR

  • Finalists will be notified of their acceptance by Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
  • A maximum of four teams will be accepted to present at the invited SPR Cup symposium, and the remaining teams will be offered the opportunity to present their work as posters during the conference.

Questions can be sent to:

Co-Chairs, 2026 Sloboda and Bukoski SPR Cup