For the past 11 years, the Biochemical Society has looked to identify and celebrate outstanding science communication by bioscience students with an annual Science Communication Prize. This year, the competition was open for creative and engaging entries aimed at the general public, in both written and media categories.
We would like to congratulate all the entrants and winners on their fantastic pieces submitted for the Science Communication Prize this year. The Biochemical Society was delighted with the entries, which came from across the globe and covered a broad range of diverse topics, from the microbiome to HIV. The winners were selected by a panel of five judges with knowledge and expertise across the science communication sector: Agnese Abrusci (Media Editor at Nature), Dr Emma Yhnell (Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience at Cardiff University and Science Communicator), Dr Heather Doran (Public Engagement Manager, Leverhulme Centre for Forensic Science at University of Dundee; Science Editor, The Biochemist), Nikolaus Muldal (Education and Public Outreach Manager for the UK Atomic Energy Authority) and Dr Güneş Taylor (Postdoctoral Training Fellow at The Francis Crick Institute and freelance science communicator). Güneş said:
“During my PhD I was given the opportunity to write a piece about my project for The Biochemist and found it really rewarding. That was when I learnt sharing my work with the public was a useful exercise in developing communication skills and getting some perspective. Consequently, it has been a genuine pleasure to support the science communication prize over the last few years. The entries this year were all of a really high standard, which made viewing and reading them really fun, but selecting the winners tough. Ultimately, the winning entries were all examples of excellent communication – engaging and creative, while maintaining highly informative content.”
The winners of each category received a cash prize – £300 for the first prize, £200 for the second prize and £100 for the third prize. The winning article entries in the written category also win the opportunity for their piece to be published in The Biochemist. Competition judge Emma Yhnell said:
“As a former winner of the Biochemical Society’s Science Communication prize, I was delighted to be invited to judge the competition this year. The quality of the entries and the ways in which people had gone about creatively communicating such a breadth of scientific topics was wonderful. Now more than ever the importance of science communication is becoming increasingly recognised. Congratulations to all of those who were shortlisted and in particular to our wonderful winners, I hope that this will ignite a life long passion to communicate science to many different audiences.”
Winners in the written category
This year, the written category saw a range of entries on the molecular aspects of cancer, alcohol, love and the wonder of plants, to name a few. The first prize went to Zuzana Osifová (Charles University, Czech Republic), for a powerful and thought-provoking article on anorexia nervosa, titled ‘Meanwhile in an anorexic mind’. Zuzana is currently studying for a PhD in NMR spectroscopy, and when asked why she chose to write about anorexia nervosa, Zuzana said:
“I would like to provide a new insight into this topic addressed to general public, mainly to the sufferers and their close-ones, to help them understand this issue. I hope that my article could encourage them to seek help because anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening disease.”
Zuzana also generously donated half of her cash prize to a charity in Czech Republic that helps eating disorder sufferers.
The judges were impressed with Natural Sciences undergraduate Natalie Bicknell’s (University of Leeds, UK) truly original and engaging newspaper entry on the fascinating internal clock of plants, titled ‘Breaking news: plants can tell the time!’ When asked about her chosen topic, Natalie said:
“Whilst many people know plants are able to undergo photosynthesis and store carbon, far fewer are aware of the circadian rhythms that govern these processes. Therefore, I decided to base my article on this idea, collating the details into a newspaper article to make it easy and enjoyable to read. Whilst there is some exaggeration and comedic references in my piece, I hope the concept of plants telling the time encourages people to think about how cool plants really are, and look at them in a different light.”
We strongly encourage readers to view Natalie’s piece in the supplemental material to this article, where it can be seen in full.
Undergraduate microbiology student Iris Floria (University of Glasgow, UK) submitted an eye-opening (and sometimes horrifying!) piece on cannibalistic microbes and the fight against antibiotic resistance, titled ‘Microbial predators: an unlikely ally?’ When asked why she chose to enter the competition, Iris said:
“Participating in this competition was a great opportunity to put my science communication skills to the test while writing about a topic that I find incredibly fascinating.”
For Iris, participation certainly paid off as she was awarded third prize in the written category.
Winners in the media category
The media category of the competition allows entrants to explore a variety of creative visual techniques to communicate their chosen topic. This year’s entries certainly delivered.
The first prize in the media category went to Biomedical Sciences undergraduate Rosanna Culver (University of Edinburgh, UK), for her inventive video using a roll of toilet paper to describe how vaccines work, titled ‘Rolling out vaccines: the fight against COVID-19’. When asked about entering the Science Communication Prize, Rosanna said:
“By entering this competition, I was able to help bridge complicated vaccinology concepts to the general public. This project not only allowed fun engagement with science communication, but also helped me refresh my epidemiology knowledge for my upcoming dissertation on eradicating infectious diseases”
Recent PhD graduate Leonardo Feletto (University of Leicester, UK) received the second prize for his timely video on ‘How COVID-19 spiked the interest for structural biology’, using animations and special effects to highlight the key role that structural biology has on combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Leonardo said:
“I entered this competition to raise awareness around the niche discipline of structural biology and how useful it was to allow us to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic”
The third prize in the media category went to PhD student Martyna Kasprzyk (University of Edinburgh, UK), for her animated video on ‘Deciphering the code of protein folding’. Of opting to enter the media category, Martyna said;
“During my undergraduate research project, I found the power of graphics compelling in scientific communication. I could instantly relay a complex explanation into something beautifully simple that was easy for anyone with or without the scientific knowledge to understand”
Congratulations again to the six winners, and don’t forget to visit our website to watch and read the outstanding winning entries in full: Science Communication Prize – Biochemical Society.
Author information
