To download an entry form, see a complete list of contest rules, and view past winners, go to: www.aaas.org/SJAwards.
Sponsored by The Whitaker Foundation, the AAAS Science Journalism Awards program, informally known as the "AAAS pinnacle of excellence prize," represents the ultimate achievement in the field of science reporting. Six reporters will be named to receive AAAS Science Journalism Awards for 2003, recognizing exemplary communications efforts, completed between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003, on behalf of large and small newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and online media outlets.
Since their inception in 1945, the awards have honored more than 300 individuals for excellence in science journalism. The awards recognize outstanding reporting for a general audience and honor individuals (rather than institutions, publishers or employers) for their coverage of the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Entries are first screened by working scientists, and then passed on to judging committees composed of science journalists. The two-panel method ensures that winning entries contain scientific accuracy, originality, clarity of interpretation and value in fostering a better understanding of science by the public.
The awards will be presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle in February 2004. Reasonable travel and hotel expenses of the award winners will be reimbursed. In cases of multiple authors or producers, only one person's expenses will be covered. Entrants agree that, if they win, they will be present to receive their award, unless prevented by circumstances beyond their control
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves some 265 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.