Until now open to undergraduate students, Alltech has added a second category its annual Young Scientist Programme to include graduate students.

"A commitment to research and young people is essential to both the success of our industry and to Alltech. The Alltech Young Scientist Programme is designed to encourage students to enter the field of animal science," said Alltech president and founder, Dr Pearse Lyons.

"The Alltech Young Scientist Award has given me and others like me an opportunity to begin leaving the shores of the classroom and wading into the waters of professional research," said Craig Louder, 2008 winner.

"It has been a tremendous learning experience and I encourage any student who is interested in science to take advantage of this opportunity."

Mr Louder, a student at Utah State University, won with his paper entitled, 'The Estrogenic Mycotoxin Zearalenone and its Importance in Livestock Production'. He joins 2007 winner, Lucas Mascardi from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Matthew Scobie from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, the 2006 winner.

To participate, students must write a scientific paper based on a topic about animal feed technologies. Undergraduate students' papers must be 3000 words in length and graduate students' papers must be 5000 words in length. The programme will include two phases: the regional phase and the international phase. In the regional phase, papers in languages other than English will be accepted. Winners from this phase will enter the international phase, in which students will have their work translated into English, if necessary.

Students can register at a special web site.

The deadline for submissions is 27 February 2009.