Biology Section

Call for Papers
38th National Student Research Conference
Biology Section

1. General Information, Organizers

Organizer of the event:

University of Pécs
Faculty of Sciences
Institute of Biology

Section website address: https://otdk38.pte.hu
Section e-mail address: biologia2027@ttk.pte.hu
Date of the event: March 31 – April 2, 2027

The National Association for Student Research (OTDT), the Section Committee for Biology of the OTDT and the organizing University of Pécs hereby announce the Biology Section of the 38th National Student Research Conference under the conditions of the following call.

The conditions for participation and registration in the Biology Section of the 38th OTDK are set out in the General Call of the 38th OTDK and in this Call of the OTDT Biology Section Committee.

2. Eligibility Criteria

2.1 Who is eligible to participate

In the 38th National Student Research Conference (OTDK), TDK papers and authors (in the case of multi-author TDK papers, all authors) may participate that meet the conditions specified in the General Call for the 38th National Student Research Conference (details are provided in Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 38th OTDK.)

Each TDK paper can have up to two authors. If a TDK paper has two authors, it can only be presented if both authors are registered for the 38th National Student Research Conference (OTDK) and both participate in the presentation (exceptions may be made with special permission from the Section Committee.)

Study circles from cross-border universities and colleges can participate in the 38th OTDK under the same professional conditions as those in Hungary. Details are available in the General Call of the 38th OTDK.

2.2. Requirements for TDK papers and evaluation

Supplement 1 to the Section Call includes:

• the content and format requirements for TDK papers, abstracts and presentations;[1]
• rules for the acceptance and presentation of TDK papers in foreign languages;
• rules for the written and presentation evaluation.

Supplement 2 to the Section Call includes:

• the mandatory template for the Author’s Contribution

Supplement 3 to the Section Call includes:

• the detailed evaluation criteria for the TDK paper:

Supplement 4 to the Section Call includes:

• the detailed evaluation criteria for the presentation.

3. Sessions, topics

3.1. Planned sessions, topics

1. Animal Physiology
2. Animal Ecology
3. Animal Anatomy
4. Biophysics and Structural Biology
5. Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
6. Biochemistry
7. Biotechnology
8. Ethology
9. Evolutionary and Theoretical Biology
10. Faunistics and Zoogeography
11. Floristics, Phytosociology, and Phytogeography
12. Genetics
13. Genomics and Molecular Diagnostics
14. Hydrobiology
15. Human Biology
16. Immunology
17. Microbiology
18. Molecular and Cell Biology
19. Neurobiology
20. Neurophysiology
21. Plant Physiology
22. Plant Ecology
23. Plant Anatomy
24. Ecotoxicology
25. Population genetics
26. Taxonomy, Phylogenetics
27. Conservation biology
28. Tumor Biology
29. Virology
30. Behavioral Ecology

During the application process, students must indicate which session would be the most suitable for presenting their TDK paper, as well as a second session that could also be appropriate.

3.2. Rules for the establishment of the final session assignment

The fundamental rules for the establishment of the final session assignment are included in the General Call of the 38th OTDK. The Biology Section Committee may, based on the number of TDK papers received and their topic, merge some of the planned sessions/topics or create additional ones, so that the TDK paper may be assigned to a different session than the one indicated by the author(s) during registration. The organizing institution, with the agreement of the Section Committee, reserves the right to redirect submissions with content that does not align with the Section’s field of study to another session of the National Student Research Conference that is more appropriate for the topic.

The final decision on the sessions and the classification of the TDK papers will be made by the Biology Section Committee; students will be informed of the decision via the OTDT online system no later than January 28, 2027. Students may object to their classification until February 4, 2027 by sending a detailed, justified letter addressed to the Chair of the Organizing Committee at the Section’s e-mail address (biol@gamma.ttk.pte.hu). The student will be notified of the decision on the objection by February 28, 2027.

4. Application procedure:

Details of the steps of registration for participants are given in Supplement 2 of the General Call of the 38th OTDK.

Registration period for the Biology Section: November 16, 2026 – January 8, 2027 (Wednesday), 16:00 (CET)

After the registration deadline for students (January 8, 2027), it will no longer be possible for students to upload application documents in the OTDT online system.

In addition to the steps described in Supplement 2 of the General Call of the 38th OTDK, the “Author Contribution” signed by the applicant(s) and at least one supervisor must be uploaded before finalizing the registration.

5. Tasks of the TDT Chairs in relation to the 38th OTDK

Tasks of the TDT Chairs are given in Supplement 2 of the 38th OTDK General Call.

Deadline for institutional and faculty TDT Chairs to upload documents to the OTDT online system: January 14, 2027, (Thursday) 16:00 (CET). After the deadline it will no longer be possible to upload application documents in the OTDT online system.

We are unable to accept TDK papers that do not meet the requirements outlined in the Section Call; such applications will be rejected.

Applications submitted individually are invalid.

6. Registration fee

The registration fees for the 38th OTDK will be determined at a later stage, subject to the availability of funding.

7. The awards that can be granted at the OTDK and the Special Prize of the Session Panel

A certificate of recognition will be awarded to all authors and supervisors attended in the OTDK and presented their TDK papers. In addition, a maximum of one third of the papers presented may be awarded one of the first, second and third places per section, taking into account that a maximum of one entry per session may be awarded first place. The Section Panel may award a special prize to those papers that do not achieve ranking but are judged by the Session Panel to be worthy of recognition on the basis of their professional merit, and which are judged to be immediately behind the winning applications. The authors of the winning papers and those of the papers receiving the Special Prize of the Session Panel will each receive a certificate for the ranking or the Special Prize of the Session Panel.

The total number of winning papers and papers awarded the Special Prize of the Session Panel may not exceed 50% of the total number of papers presented in a section. Further rules on prizes are set out in Supplement 3 to the General Call.

8. Submission of Pro Scientia Gold Medal application

The authors of TDK papers that have been awarded first place at the national conference may apply for the Pro Scientia Gold Medal, provided they meet the additional criteria set out in the call. Details are given in Supplement 5 of the 38th OTDK General Call.

We invite and welcome all interested students and their masters!

Budapest, April 21, 2026

[1] abstract = overview/excerpt/summary

SUPPLEMENT 1 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
BIOLOGY SECTION

1. The language of the TDK paper and the presentation:

In the Biology Section TDK papers can be submitted in Hungarian and English. The language of the TDK paper, the abstract, the author’s contribution and the presentation must be the same.

2. Content requirements for the TDK paper:

The TDK paper must clearly indicate the student’s own contribution; therefore, a declaration by the author(s) and the supervisor (in the case of multiple supervisors, the signature of one is sufficient) must be uploaded to the OTDT online system at the time of application (Author contribution), specifying the work processes carried out by the author(s) and the extent of their contribution to the scientific results presented in the TDK paper. The mandatory sample for the statement on the Author contribution to be used is given in Supplement 2 to this Section Call.

All TDK papers submitted to the OTDK are subject to a plagiarism check, which is evaluated by a three-member special committee set up by the Biology Section Committee, which reviews the results of the plagiarism check one by one. Please note that plagiarism in any form is not allowed: chapters that do not present new results (e.g. Introduction, Evaluation/Discussion) must also follow the rules of ethical citation. If a full sentence or several sentences are taken over verbatim, the beginning and end of the quoted part must be indicated by quotation marks, and the quoted text may not be modified. If the author refers to previous results in a newly formulated (or rephrased) text (indirect citation), the reference of the scientific publication that reports the results must be included in the text and the publication must be listed in the bibliography. Also, you may cite your own earlier works (including earlier OTDK papers) only if you follow the above rules and clearly and accurately indicate the original source or verbatim quotation. The original source must also be indicated if you take over any figures.

TDK papers that are proven to infringe copyright will be excluded from the OTDK by the OTDT, with simultaneous notification to the nominating institution.

According to the position of the OTDT Biology Section Committee, artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems are tools that can be used well or poorly. The use of ChatGPT (and similar text-generating, content-creation applications and AI tools) is permitted in the preparation of TDK papers (and presentations), but the fact and extent of such use must be indicated in a separate declaration in accordance with the General Call of the OTDK. Please note that by submitting a TDK paper, authors accept responsibility for the originality and authenticity of the results presented and for all words in the TDK paper (including text written using ChatGPT). Particular care should be taken when checking literature references provided by ChatGPT.

3. Formal requirements for the TDK paper:

General requirements:

Time for uploading the TDK paper to the OTDT online system: within 30 days after the acceptance of the student research conference, as described in Supplement 2, point 4 of the General Call of the 38th OTDK. Students who qualify with their TDK papers at a student research conference held within 30 days before the registration deadline for the Biology Section of the 38th OTDK must upload their TDK papers to the OTDT online system by the registration deadline at the latest.

TDK papers that exceed the maximum length specified by the Biology Section cannot not be uploaded to the OTDT online system.

TDK papers must be uploaded in editable (non-protected) PDF format. The maximum file size is 10 megabytes. If the size of the TDK paper exceeds 10 megabytes, please contact the OTDT Office.

General formal requirements:

Font: Times New Roman or Calibri
Font size: 12 pt
Line spacing: 1.5
Margin: 2.5 cm

By way of derogation from the general rule, the font size of text in tables and figures and of references should be at least 10 points and the line spacing minimum single.

Compulsory supplementary document (to be uploaded at the time of registration): Author’s contribution

Section-specific requirements:

Minimum number of pages for the TDK paper: –
Maximum number of pages for the TDK paper: 40 (including any Appendices)
Number of authors: up to 2
Number of supervisors: up to 2
Referencing method: as appropriate to the field.

Additional section-specific rules for the TDK paper:

The proposed structure of the TDK paper: Cover page, Table of contents, Introduction, Objectives, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, Bibliography + Appendix (if relevant).

The cover page of the TDK paper must include: “38th OTDK Biology Section”, title, name of the author(s), field of study, year, name of the submitting institution (e.g. Babeș-Bolyai University); if the paper was not written at a university research center, the name of the institution in addition to the name of the nominating institution, and the name(s) of the (up to two) supervisors.

You do not need to submit a hard copy of your TDK paper.

4. Formal requirements for the presentation:

The TDK paper must be presented in person at the panel session. In exceptionally justified cases, presentation via an online channel may also be accepted. The Biology Section Committee decides on the authorization of online presentation based on a request and justification submitted by the applicant(s) to the Section’s Executive Board, after consulting the opinion of the Section’s Executive Board.

At the conference, you will have 12 minutes to present your TDK paper, followed by a discussion of up to 8 minutes (in the same language as your presentation). At the end of the presentation, the result obtained after the completion of the TDK paper can be presented on (up to) two slides. It is mandatory to display the Author’s Contribution in the presentation (this information should be displayed on the last slide in the presentation).

As a general rule, a co-authored TDK paper may only be presented if both authors of the TDK paper are named and participate in the presentation (exceptions may be made with the specific permission of the Section Committee).

5. Rules for the abstract:

Only the main text needs to be uploaded to the OTDT online system (the other data: names of authors, institution, supervisor, etc. are generated by the online system).

Language of the abstract: the same as the language of the TDK paper.
Length of the abstract: minimum 500 and maximum 2500 characters (including spaces).
The abstract should include a short summary (maximum 500 characters) of the student’s own results.

6. Uploading presentations:

The uploading of the presentations will be done online during a specific period before the conference, according to the technical instructions given by the Biology Section organizers, thus helping the sessions to run smoothly in terms of time and technical aspects.

7. Rules for the evaluation of TDK papers:

Submitted TDK papers will be evaluated in writing by two reviewers, the evaluation criteria are set out in Supplement 3 to this Section Call. In the written evaluation, the maximum number of points that can be awarded to a TDK paper is 100 (based on the average of the points awarded by the two reviewers). Evaluations will be published by the Biology Section organizers via the OTDT online system. Written evaluations will be published 7 days before the conference.

The presentation will be evaluated by a Session Panel of recognized members of the field. The evaluation criteria for the presentation are set out in Supplement 4 to this Section Call. During the presentation evaluation, the Section Panel of 3 members can award a maximum of 75 points each (based on the average of the three panel members’ scores) for the oral presentation of the TDK paper and the following discussion.

The evaluation of the TDK paper is made by summing up the scores of the paper, its presentation, and the discussion. The maximum achievable score is 100 + 75 + 75 = 250 points.

SUPPLEMENT 2 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
BIOLOGY SECTION

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

I, the undersigned (name of the student submitting the paper to be filled in here), declare that I/we have participated[1] in the following work processes for the paper submitted to the 38th OTDK (title of the paper to be filled in here):

Date: <Place>, <Date>

(Please replace or modify the parts marked with an asterisk as appropriate).

#Explanation:

Please rate your extent of involvement in the work process on a five-point scale. The meaning of each value on the scale:

5 – After preparation, I completed the whole task independently, to the extent required for the project.
4 – After preparation, I completed more than half of the whole task independently, to the extent required for the project.
3 – After preparation, I completed more than half of the subtask independently, to the extent required for the project.
2 – After preparation, I completed less than half of the subtask independently, to the extent required for the project.
1 – I completed the subtask with continuous assistance to the extent required for the paper.

^m1 The student author participated in one year of the 3 years of fieldwork. This year, together with their partner, they carried out fieldwork, during which they independently collected materials related to the species forming the basis of the TDK paper for one half of the area/study period. The rest of the collection was done by others.

^m2Of the 5 primers used, the student designed three himself, the others were ready-made.

^m3The design (e.g.: sample order+quantity) and theoretical setup of the western blot reactions was completed by the participant, however, the “wet” part of the work was largely done by the laboratory assistant. The evaluation was carried out by the participant.

^m4The statistical processing of the data was carried out by the participant, with the continuous assistance of their supervisor.

[1] Do not include in the list any sub-tasks of the research project in which you did not participate at all.

^[2] The following list is a sample, which can be freely modified and extended.

SUPPLEMENT 3 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
BIOLOGY SECTION

Criteria for the evaluation of the TDK paper

Each criterion is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, and then multiplied by the multiplication factors set out on the next page before summing up the sub-scores.

[1] In the case of a two-author proposal, we recommend that the amount of work per author is taken into account.

SUPPLEMENT 4 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
BIOLOGY SECTION

Evaluation criteria for the presentation and the discussion

Each criterion is scored on a scale of 1 to 5 and then multiplied by the multiplication factors set out in the following table before summing up the sub-scores.

Each criterion is scored on a scale of 1 to 5 and then multiplied by the multiplication factors set out in the following table before summing up the sub-scores.

• 38th OTDK Biology Section Call
• Supplement 1
• Supplement 2
• Supplement 3
• Supplement 4