1.0 INTRODUCTION
Malawi recognises the importance and role of science and technology (S&T) in socio-economic development. This recognition led to the establishment of the National Research Council of Malawi in the Office of the President and Cabinet in 1974 to provide policy direction on research and development (R&D) activities in general, and, specifically to promote and co-ordinate the development and application of S&T for maximum social and economic benefit of the country. To effectively provide this policy direction, Malawi developed and launched her S&T policy in 1991. This policy is, however, undergoing a review process to include social and economic shifts that have come with the new political dispensation. More recently, Government has placed S&T among the nine priority areas where efforts would be directed in this millenium as espoused in the Vision 20:20.

The National Research Council of Malawi (NRCM) in its endeavours to popularise and promote the development of S&T runs a number of Schemes of Awards, namely: Malawi Award for Scientific and Technological Achievement (MASTA), Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Young Scientists in Malawi and the Secondary School Science Awards. The MASTA is a national award scheme for every scientist/technologist while the TWAS Prize scheme is meant for only young scientists in basic sciences who have attained at least a master's degree and are not more than forty years of age. The Secondary School Science Awards Scheme targets secondary school students to develop an interest in science subjects.

The NRCM strives to establish such schemes of awards at all levels of education. Due to some constraints, it has not been possible to organise such awards at primary and undergraduate levels of education. Following and encouraged by the outcome of a series of cross-sectional consultations with various stakeholders and members of the general public, the NRCM has established a new scheme of awards to cater for undergraduate science students. This scheme is called "Best University Science Project Awards (BUSPA). The BUSPA scheme shall be managed by the BUSPA committee which will be responsible to the Science Competitions Committee. These guidelines and procedures have, therefore, been developed to govern this scheme so that there is transparency and objectivity in the selection of the rightful awardees.

2.0 OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSE OF BUSPA

1. To promote the development of a sound scientific human resource base at undergraduate level for the socio-economic development of the country
2. To encourage university students to effectively participate in R&D in the fields of natural and applied sciences
3. To promote innovation and creativity in S&T among university students
   

3.0 ELIGIBILITY

1. Eligible candidates will be all undergraduate students (including honours students) pursuing Bachelor of Science programmes in all Universities in Malawi.
2. The candidate must have carried out an independent research and development project in either natural or applied science as partial fulfilment of a degree programme.

4.0 FIELDS OF CONSIDERATION

1. Areas to be considered for awards are all science based projects: both in natural and/or applied sciences.
2. The natural sciences include biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics (applied mathematics) while applied sciences include engineering, geoscience, medicine, nursing, environmental science, agricultural science, forestry, etc.

5.0 CATEGORIES OF AWARDS
The awards to be offered on annual basis are based on the following three categories:

7.0 CRITERIA FOR SHORT-LISTING
The short-listing criteria are as follows:

1. Class of degree: At least a good pass, with a final average mark of 55 and above.
2. Project Mark (at the end of degree assessment): At least 60% (credit and above).
3. Independent Assessors’ average mark (an average mark from at least 3 of 5 experts selected by the BUSPA committee)
4. Formula for Short-listing

   X = 20% 7 (a) + 30% 7 (b) + 50% 7 (c) where X is a percentage score

5. Only those scoring at least 60% in 7(d) will be eligible for short-listing
6. Maximum number to be short-listed based on 7(d) is twenty (20) including ties

8.0 FINAL ASSESSMENT
The final assessment of the candidates will be based on the following:

9.0 SELECTION OF BEST SCIENCE STUDENT
The top five students based on 8(c) will constitute the Best Science Students.

10.0 SELECTION OF BEST SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

1. Rank, utmost, twenty projects, having called for a maximum of three projects from each Department. Each of the twenty projects will be assigned a mark depending on their position. A mark of twenty will be assigned to the top project(s) while a mark of one will be assigned to the bottom project(s).
2. The position of the Department will be determined by adding the points obtained by the projects among the twenty who belong to that Department.
3. The Department with the most number of points shall be the Best Science Department.

11.0 SELECTION OF BEST FACULTY

1. Each of the 20 students re-ranked in 8(d) will be assigned a mark depending on their position. A mark of 20 will be assigned to the top student(s) while a mark of 1 will be assigned to the bottom student(s).
2. The position of the Faculty will be determined by adding the points obtained by students (among the 20) who belong to that Faculty.
3. The Faculty with the most number of points shall be the winning (Best) Science Faculty.

12.0 Click Here for Appendices for guidelines for assesment of reports and oral presentations and procedures for submitting applications and processing

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