# Awards 2026 Process Codex

**Document Status:** Operational Codex  
**Applies to:** Annual iLRN Conference  
**Primary Owners:** Awards Chairs  
**Contributors:** General Chairs, Programme Chairs, iLEAD Chairs, Publications Team, Web Team

## 1. Purpose of This Codex

This codex defines the **standardised process, roles, tasks, and timeline** for the planning, management, and delivery of the iLRN Awards.

Its purpose is to:

- Ensure **consistency, transparency, and fairness** in the awards process
- Support **efficient handover** between conference years
- Reduce reliance on informal knowledge or ad hoc decision-making
- Provide a single authoritative reference for Awards Chairs

## High-Level Timeline Overview

<div class="contain-inline-size rounded-2xl corner-superellipse/1.1 relative bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary" id="bkmrk-months-before-confer"><div class="@w-xl/main:top-9 sticky top-[calc(--spacing(9)+var(--header-height))]"><div class="absolute end-0 bottom-0 flex h-9 items-center pe-2"><div class="bg-token-bg-elevated-secondary text-token-text-secondary flex items-center gap-4 rounded-sm px-2 font-sans text-xs">  
</div></div></div><div class="overflow-y-auto p-4" dir="ltr">`Months <span class="hljs-keyword">before</span> Conference →   <span class="hljs-number">-9</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-8</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-7</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-6</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-5</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-4</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-3</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-2</span>  <span class="hljs-number">-1</span>   T   +<span class="hljs-number">1</span><span class="hljs-comment">-----------------------------------------------------------------------</span>Awards design & criteria      ███ ███Website <span class="hljs-keyword">publication</span>                █Jury panel invitations              ███ ███Jury confirmation & consent             ███Nominations collection                      ███Anonymisation & prep                          ███Jury voting                                      ███Results & assets                                     ███Certificates & ceremony prep                         ███Awards ceremony                                            █Post-conference wrap-up                                     ███`</div><div class="overflow-y-auto p-4" dir="ltr"></div></div>---

## 2. Roles and Responsibilities

### 2.1 Awards Chairs

The Awards Chairs are responsible for the **end-to-end coordination** of the awards process, including:

- Defining award categories and criteria
- Managing jury panels
- Overseeing nominations and voting
- Preparing awards materials and ceremony assets
- Coordinating with all relevant committees

### 2.2 Programme Chairs

- Nominate shortlisted contributions for awards
- Support clarification of academic categories and eligibility

### 2.3 iLEAD Chairs

- Nominate shortlisted iLEAD contributions
- Advise on iLEAD-specific award categories and criteria

### 2.4 General Chairs

- Oversee alignment with conference programme and ceremony
- Support awards presentation during the conference

### 2.5 Publications &amp; Web Teams

- Publish awards-related content on the website
- Archive final awards outcomes post-conference

---

## 3. Awards Process Overview

The awards process is organised into **six sequential phases**:

1. Awards Design &amp; Governance
2. Jury Panel Setup
3. Nominations &amp; Materials Preparation
4. Jury Voting
5. Awards Assets &amp; Ceremony
6. Post-Conference Wrap-Up

Each phase has defined tasks, outputs, and dependencies.

---

## 4. Phase 1 — Awards Design &amp; Governance

**Timeline:** Before CFP launch (approximately T–9 to T–8 months)

### 4.1 Define Awards Structure

**Tasks**

- Review existing award categories
- Reduce and refine categories to avoid duplication and overload
- Confirm awards across:
    
    
    - Academic track
    - iLEAD track
    - Reviewers
    - Posters and Workshops (if applicable)

**Outputs**

- Final list of award categories
- Short description for each award

---

### 4.2 Define Evaluation Criteria

**Tasks**

- Finalise evaluation criteria per award category
- Ensure criteria are:
    
    
    - Clear and concise
    - Distinct across categories
    - Suitable for independent jury voting

**Outputs**

- Approved criteria text for:
    
    
    - Jury instructions
    - Voting forms
    - Website publication

---

### 4.3 Decide Nomination and Voting Model

**Tasks**

- Confirm nomination source (Programme Chairs / iLEAD Chairs)
- Confirm voting model:
    
    
    - Independent jury voting
    - No written reviews required
- Confirm voting platform (Tally)
- Confirm number of nominations per category (typically three)

**Outputs**

- Written description of awards process

---

### 4.4 Publish Awards Information

**Tasks**

- Prepare awards webpage content
- Publish awards information once CFP is live

**Outputs**

- Public awards webpage with:
    
    
    - Award categories
    - Criteria
    - High-level process description

---

## 5. Phase 2 — Jury Panel Setup

**Timeline:** Approximately T–6 to T–5 months

### 5.1 Identify and Invite Jury Panel Members

**Tasks**

- Identify potential jury members in collaboration with:
    
    
    - Awards Chairs
    - Programme Chairs
    - iLEAD Chairs
- Aim for approximately 20 jury panel members
- Send formal invitation emails (Academic and iLEAD variants)

**Outputs**

- Jury invitation emails sent
- Jury tracking spreadsheet (contacted / agreed / pending)

---

### 5.2 Collect Jury Metadata and Consent

**Tasks**

- Create a Tally form to collect:
    
    
    - Name
    - Title
    - Affiliation
    - Consent to be publicly listed
- Ensure GDPR-compliant consent wording

**Outputs**

- Completed jury metadata list
- Approved jury panel list for website publication

---

## 6. Phase 3 — Nominations &amp; Materials Preparation

**Timeline:** Approximately T–3 to T–2 months

### 6.1 Collect Award Nominations

**Tasks**

- Create and distribute the awards nominations spreadsheet
- Monitor submissions and follow up on missing nominations

**Outputs**

- Completed nominations spreadsheet
- Final shortlist per award category

---

### 6.2 Prepare Anonymised Award Materials

**Tasks**

- Download nominated submissions
- Anonymise documents consistently
- Organise files in Google Drive by award category:
    
    
    - Academic
    - iLEAD

**Outputs**

- Jury-ready anonymised folders

---

### 6.3 Create Jury Voting Forms

**Tasks**

- Create separate Tally voting forms per award group
- Embed:
    
    
    - Award description
    - Evaluation criteria
    - Links to anonymised submissions
- Test all forms before distribution

**Outputs**

- Finalised jury voting forms

---

## 7. Phase 4 — Jury Voting

**Timeline:** Voting window of approximately two weeks

### 7.1 Distribute Voting Forms

**Tasks**

- Send voting instructions to jury panel members
- Clearly communicate:
    
    
    - Voting deadline
    - Expected workload
    - Contact for support

**Outputs**

- Voting emails sent
- Vote tracking in place

---

### 7.2 Monitor and Close Voting

**Tasks**

- Monitor response rates
- Send reminders if required
- Close voting at deadline
- Export and securely store results

**Outputs**

- Final voting results per award category

---

## 8. Phase 5 — Awards Assets &amp; Ceremony

**Timeline:** Approximately T–1 month to conference

### 8.1 Create Awards Communication Assets

**Tasks**

- Create social media and promotional visuals
- Prepare final awards text for website and publications team

**Outputs**

- Awards communication assets
- Final website-ready awards content

---

### 8.2 Certificates

**Tasks**

- Finalise certificate template
- Generate certificates for:
    
    
    - Award winners
    - Nominated contributions (if applicable)
- Print certificates for onsite ceremony
- Email digital certificates post-conference

**Outputs**

- Printed certificates
- Digital certificates distributed

---

### 8.3 Awards Ceremony Support

**Tasks**

- Support General Chairs with:
    
    
    - Awards presentation slides
    - Ceremony narrative/script
- Verify accuracy of:
    
    
    - Names
    - Affiliations
    - Award titles

**Outputs**

- Final awards presentation
- Approved ceremony narrative

---

## 9. Phase 6 — Post-Conference Wrap-Up

**Timeline:** Within two weeks post-conference

### 9.1 Publication and Archiving

**Tasks**

- Update website with final award outcomes
- Acknowledge jury panel members
- Archive all awards materials and documents
- Prepare handover notes for next year’s Awards Chairs

**Outputs**

- Completed awards archive
- Updated Awards Codex for future use

---

## 10. Review and Maintenance

This codex should be:

- Reviewed annually by the Awards Chairs
- Updated to reflect process improvements
- Archived alongside conference documentation