News Release

AAAS and EurekAlert! engage North African science writers through journalism fellowships

Grant and Award Announcement

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

EurekAlert!, the global science news service operated by AAAS, in cooperation with the National Association of Science Writers in the United States under its partnership with the Arab Science Journalists Association, is happy to announce the recipients of the 2010 AAAS Fellowships for Science Reporters from North Africa. By recognizing these accomplished North African science journalists, the fellowships fulfill the goal of supporting excellence and expansion in communicating science worldwide.

The award will give the two fellowship recipients a front-row seat at the unveiling of exciting new research and the opportunity to mingle with their fellow science writers from around the world at the AAAS Annual Meeting (www.aaas.org/meetings), Feb. 18-22, in San Diego. The fellowship pays for travel, lodging and meals at the AAAS Annual Meeting.

The fellowships were originally launched in 2004 with a seed grant from the William T. Golden Endowment Fund for Program Innovation. It brought 10 reporters from China to the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle. Subsequent fellowships have sponsored more reporters from the Middle East and China, as well as Africa, Central and South America.

The recipients of the 2010 fellowships are:

"Attending the AAAS annual meeting is a great opportunity to learn about the science happening in the top institutions in the U.S. It's also an excellent chance for me to mingle with fellow science journalists," fellow Nadia El-Awady commented. "And I'll be announcing at the AAAS annual meeting that the U.S.-based NASW and the Arab Science Journalists Association will be jointly organizing the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists in Cairo in 2011. So I am very excited about coming for many reasons!"

The National Association of Science Writers (NASW), a leading voice for science journalists and communicators in the United States, has an ongoing relationship with the Arab Science Journalists Association, facilitating mentoring opportunities between experienced science writers in the United States and their colleagues in the Arab world.

The fellowship program for science writers is important to the mission of both AAAS and EurekAlert! as they seek to promote international scientific dialogue and advance the communication of science news to the global public.

"EurekAlert! is excited to be able to sponsor these reporters and bring them to the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting. They will be able to report on breaking news about discoveries across a broad array of scientific disciplines, taking advantage of a level of access they can only get by attending the AAAS Meeting," said EurekAlert! Director Patrick McGinness. "It is a wonderful opportunity for the reporters, and a wonderful opportunity for EurekAlert!."

Meeting coverage by each 2010 fellowship recipient will be published on EurekAlert!'s Multi-Language portal (http://www.eurekalert.org/language). More information about the 2010 fellowship winners is available at http://www.eurekalert.org/fellows.

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About AAAS

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), Science Signaling (www.sciencesignaling.org), and Science Translational Medicine (www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, reaching 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 1 million. The nonprofit 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.

About EurekAlert!

Founded by AAAS in 1996, EurekAlert! is an editorially independent, online news service focused on science, medicine and technology. Thousands of reporters around the globe use EurekAlert! to access news and resources from the world's top research organizations. For free access to EurekAlert!, visit www.EurekAlert.org.


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.