FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In order to encourage research in this nascent but rapidly growing important field, The IBM Institute for Advanced Commerce will award a one-year fellowship to the student who submits the best doctoral thesis proposal in the area of electronic commerce. The award includes tuition, stipend, and a summer position at IBM Research.

Doctoral students in Economics, Computer Science, Business, and Management and related fields are eligible. We will consider proposals that are being submitted to thesis committees as well as proposals or summaries of thesis research that is underway.

Proposals must be submitted by March 15, 2000, be written in English, and should be no more than fifteen pages in length. The proposal should make clear what is new, how it builds on previous research or experience, and the potential impact if the research is successful.

Submissions should be accompanied by a CV of the student and a letter of support from a professor. The material should also be sent by March 15, 2000, preferably by e-mail to iac-contest@us.ibm.com, or in paper form to:

Stuart Feldman
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
PO Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-0704

Proposals will be judged on the basis of originality and potential impact. The decision will be made by a committee headed by the Director of the Institute for Advanced Commerce. The winner will be announced by June 1, 2000. The Fellowship is expected to be used for the 2000-2001 academic year.

We offered a similar award in 1998, and received 28 completed entries. Of these, 15 were from departments of computer science, information science or similar and 13 were from departments of management, economics, or business. Twenty submissions came from US institutions, and eight were from around the globe. The grand prize went to Peter Wurman (University of Michigan at Ann Arbor). Other prizes were awarded to Otto Koppius (Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management), Adam Rifkin (California Institute of Technology) and Victoria Ungureanu (Rutgers University). We seek entries once again from all departments and countries.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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