Awards for Excellence in Science Communications

National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications

Submissions Accepted through March 31, 2025

Please see categories, eligibility criteria, a detailed timeline, and link to the application below.

For Applicants

Overview?

The National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications will encourage high-quality science communication and build a robust community of science communicators, science journalists, and research scientists as they continue to demystify complex issues related to science, engineering, and health effectively, inspiring wonder and curiosity about issues that impact daily life and planetary well-being. The program will confer 24 awards totaling $640,000. These awards will go to individuals who were working at the frontlines of science communication or journalism who have developed creative, original work that addresses issues and advances in science, engineering, or medicine for the general public, and who are in career stages or settings where the recognition could have a significant impact on their future career.

Schmidt Sciences will help foster the vibrant and expanding community of science communications awardees by partnering with renowned journalistic institutions to provide ongoing training and professional development opportunities.

Members of the selection committee and jury discuss the awards, describe who is awarded, and explain why awarding science communicators, journalists, and researchers is so important.

Submission Categories

Submissions will be accepted from individuals who developed content and were working at the frontlines of science communication, science journalism, or practicing research in 2024 in eight subcategories.?

? SCIENCE ?JOURNALIST

• Freelance Journalist Developed content for media organizations and was self-employed.
• Early-CareerJournalist Was under 30 years of age or had less than 5 years of professional experience developing content for media organizations.
• Local/Regional Journalist Developed content for media organizations that:Focused on local/regional issues.Reported the effects of wider issues on a locality or region.Or were regionally-focused subsections of outlets that were broader in reach.

? SCIENCE ?COMMUNICATOR

Addressed issues or advances in science, engineering, or medical fields and did not identify as a science journalist or practicing research scientist.

• Independent Communicator Was not employed full-time by a third-party organization or institution to do this work.
• Organizational Communicator Was employed by an organization or institution. ??

? RESEARCH??SCIENTIST

• Graduate Student Researcher Was a Master’s or PhD candidate practicing research in science, engineering, or medical fields. ?
• Early-Career Researcher Was a practicing researcher in science, engineering, or medical fields and was less than 6 years post-Master’s or PhD. ?
• Later-Career Researcher Was a practicing researcher in science, engineering, or medical fields and was 6 or more years post-Master’s or PhD.

Eligibility Criteria & Submission Guidelines

The application incorporates ways of looking at the individual* holistically through narrative responses and work examples. Both the narrative components of the submission and the work example(s) provided will be included in the evaluation.? Reviewers are not only looking at what an applicant has done, but also their commitment to continuing work in the field of science communication, science journalism, or practicing research science.? *We recognize the importance of teamwork to many science communication and journalism endeavors; however, these awards are for individuals. You will have an opportunity to articulate the contributions of your collaborators.

Can articulate what motivates you to create work(s) that improve the public’s interest, appreciation, or understanding of science, engineering, or medicine, and their impact on society.

Have a passion for science communication or journalism and can tell us how they got here and where you are headed.?

Have at least one outstanding example of science communication or journalism that demonstrated your potential or ability to communicate the issues, beauty, societal benefits, complexities, shortcomings, or controversies of science, engineering, or medicine.

Can set forth a compelling case for what this award would mean to you.

Ready to Apply?

Given the breadth of this award program – and the volume of submissions – you are encouraged to be selective about the work(s) provided – focusing on?the best examples?– and include links, uploads, and notes that direct reviewers to a starting point. Mapping out a starting point is especially important with long-form media such as books (direct reviewers to specific pages or chapters), film/video (beginning/ending timestamps), podcasts (specific episodes), and social media content (specific threads or posts), for example.??

Submissions that include ineligible work examples, long-form media or entire social media accounts, and websites as work examples – and do not map out a starting point – may be disqualified.?

Entries must be submitted through the online submission form in the category that most closely fit the submitter’s background?by 11:59 p.m. ET, March 31, 2025. Works and applications translated into English are welcome. The program accepts one application per individual. There is no submission fee.

Before applying, you are encouraged to?read the contest rules.?

Apply here: https://www.nationalacademies.org/awards/excellence-in-communication/for-applicants

--

If you're looking for job opportunities, PhD positions, or postdoc openings in India and abroad, updates on grants, awards and other events, explore our new job portal and stay updated with the latest listings! Visit jobs.scikonnect.com today. ????