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2008 The Hamilton Economic Policy Innovation Prize

DEADLINE: No later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, August 1, 2008.

The Hamilton Project Economic Policy Innovation Prize 2008

$25,000 Awarded for Best Innovative Policy Proposals

The Hamilton Project at Brookings announces its second annual Economic Policy Innovation Prize competition. The Project will award $25,000 in prizes for the best innovative policy proposals written by undergraduate and graduate-level students. The top undergraduate student proposal will be awarded $5,000 and the top graduate student proposal will be awarded $10,000, with the remaining $10,000 to be shared among runners up in the competition. In addition to the cash prizes, the winning proposals will be posted on The Hamilton Project website and the winners may also be invited to turn their proposals into discussion papers issued by the Project.

Submissions should include a cover letter containing contact information for the author. The undergraduate proposal itself should be no more than 3,000 words and the graduate-level proposal should be no more than 5,000 words, both exclusive of any charts or tables. Each proposal should include an abstract of no more than 250 words that clearly describes the policy problem to be addressed and the specific proposal for addressing it. Neither the proposal nor the abstract should include information identifying the author or his/her institution.

Criteria for evaluating the proposals include:
(a) the relevance of the policy problem and the motivation for the policy proposal;
(b) the rigor and execution of the evidence describing both the problem and the benefits of the solution;
(c) the originality of the proposal; and
(d) the degree to which the proposal is consistent with The Hamilton Project’s strategic goals, as described in “An Economic Strategy to Advance Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth” (http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2006/04useconomics_altman.aspx).

The Hamilton Project Economic Policy Innovation Prize is open to students at accredited United States Institutions. In order to qualify, both undergraduate and graduate students must have been enrolled with their institution for at least one semester of the 2007-2008 academic year.

Proposals should be submitted in electronic form to policyprize@hamiltonproject.org, no later than 5:00 pm eastern time on Friday, August 1, 2008. A selection committee will review the applications and the winners will be notified in Fall 2008.

For more information on The Hamilton Project, or to see copies of the 2007 winning proposals, please visit their website at www.hamiltonproject.org.