Established in 1992 to honour the memory of Professor John F. Kennedy, the IAHR John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition recognises conference papers from undergraduate and postgraduate students on the basis of written and oral presentations at the IAHR World Congress.

The John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition offers a platform for brilliant undergraduate and postgraduate students to share their findings in hydraulics and water resources research. Over 120 papers were submitted to the IAHR Technical Committee on Education and Professional Development, who, after careful consideration and with the help of the IAHR Technical Committees, shortlisted 10 finalists that presented their work at the 40th IAHR World Congress in Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday 22 August.

The winners were announced on 24 August 2023 during the Gala Dinner of the 40th IAHR World Congress and were handed out by Prof. Joseph Hun-Wei Lee, IAHR President and President of Macau University of Science and Technology, and Prof. Larry J. Weber, director of IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering, University of Iowa. 

The 1st prize of the 15th John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition was conferred to Mina Rouzegar from the University of Manitoba in Canada for her work on Experimental investigation of asymmetric border ice effect on sediment transport.

The 2nd prize of the 15th John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition was conferred to Matthias Bürgler, from ETH Zurich, Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW), Switzerland, for his work on Air-Water Flow Measurements on a Large-Scale Spillway Chute.

The 3rd prize of the 15th John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition was conferred to Marco Córdova, from the Universidad de IngenierÍa y Tecnología UTEC, Peru, for his work on El Niño Impacts from Large to Local Scale on Peruvian Rivers.

Special thanks to the members of the IAHR Technical Committee on Education and Professional Development for the coordination work, to the jury members and chairs of IAHR's Tecnhnical Committees for their dedication evaluating more than 120 papers received, and to Larry J. Weber, Suzanne Kennedy, and Robert Ettema for supporting the award. 

The John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition is the most prestigious award for students working in hydro-environment issues. The JFK session at the IAHR World Congress provides a unique picture of the present and future of hydro-environment research. The importance of this award is clearly showed in the number of submitted papers and in the great audience that this high-quality session had. Wardship of this event is paramount for the IAHR and its members.