The European Federation for Science Journalism has revealed the 2022 shortlist for its prestigious European Science Journalist of the Year award.
The award recognises and promotes excellence and innovation in science journalism across Europe, with nominations coming from national science journalism associations as well as individuals.
This year’s award has been sponsored by Elsevier, and by the Association of British Science Writers.
The winner and runners-up will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the European Conference of Science Journalism in Leiden, the Netherlands, on 12 July.
The finalists for the 2022 awards are, in alphabetical order:
- Martin Amrein, editor of science department at Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, in Switzerland
- Maartje Bakker, science desk journalist at newspaper De Volkskrant, in the Netherlands
- Ángela Bernardo, senior journalist for healthcare at Civio investigative newsroom, in Spain
- Jelena Kalinić, freelance science journalist for publications including Voice of America, and blogger at Quantum of Science, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Amelia Vale, journalist, director and producer for media company Factual Eyes, UK
The award was founded in 2014 by the Association of British Science Writers, and has been organised by the European Federation for Science Journalism since 2020. Previous winners, awarded at major events such as the World Conference of Science Journalists, and European Conference of Science Journalism, came from Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Russia, the Netherlands, and the UK.
“We’re very proud to organise this award for the third year together with the support from our UK member association,” said Krijn Soeteman, president of the European Federation for Science Journalism. “I’m really looking forward to the in-person award ceremony after last year’s awards were announced online due to Covid restrictions. Hope to see many of you joining us in Leiden.”
This year’s qualifying submissions came from a variety of EU countries and beyond, as has become usual for this pan-European award that highlights excellent journalism regardless where it’s done or what languages it was originally published in.
“We were impressed by the high quality of the submissions and the diversity of topics,” said Dr. Alexandra Borissova Saleh, chair of the judging panel. “We reviewed a variety of entries including TV, print and online productions, and we were very happy to see excellent science journalism across the whole continent in times when it is very much needed.”
The judging panel was made up of distinguished members of the profession from different countries, and with expertise in diverse areas of science journalism.
The first-place winner will be awarded a prize of 1,000 Euro. Second and third-place winners will be awarded 300 Euro and 200 Euro, respectively.
Michiel Kolman, Senior Vice President, Research Networks, Elsevier, said: “Now more than ever, as the world continues to contend with Covid-19 and many other challenges, science journalism plays a crucial role in communicating the facts to the public and deepening an understanding of scientific analysis and discovery.
“Elsevier is excited to support this award, which demonstrates the very best in science journalism and the role it plays. We want to congratulate all of the shortlisted journalists for their achievements and contributions!”
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The judging panel
Hristio Boytchev – an investigative science and health journalist and winner of the 2021 European Science Journalist of the Year award (Germany/Bulgaria)
Ben Deighton – managing editor of SciDev.Net (UK)
Alexandra Nistoroiu – investigative science and health reporter at Libertatea (Romania)
Mićo Tatalović – news editor at Research Professional News (Croatia/UK)
Vera Novais – science reporter for Observador (Portugal)
Chair: Dr. Alexandra Borissova Saleh – freelance science journalist (Russia/Italy)
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About European Federation for Science Journalism
The European Federation for Science Journalism is a non-profit organisation that aims to promote independent, high-quality science journalism across Europe by organising meetings and conferences, setting-up cross-border investigative reporting grants, and running awards. The EFSJ supports and stimulates journalists to critically examine, challenge and assess scientific information in a social, cultural, political, ethical and economic context. The EFSJ also aims to help develop and support new business models for independent science journalism and stimulate the debate about the role of science journalism and science communication.
About Association of British Science Writers
ABSW is a membership organisation for media professionals who cover science, medicine, environment, mathematics, engineering and technology. It provides professional training, development and networking for journalists and writers at all career stages.
About Elsevier
As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems. In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, health professionals, institutions and funders.
Elsevier employs 8,700 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and health education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on our over 2,700 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell; our over 43,000 eBook titles; and our iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world.
Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com.
Dan DiPietro-James, Media Relations Director
Elsevier Communications
+1 773-251-8744
Dan.James@elsevier.com