The National Association of Science Writers will once again sponsor travel fellowships to the upcoming AAAS meeting for undergraduate students interested in science journalism. As many as 10 students will receive up to $750 in travel expenses to attend AAAS in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17-21, 2011. NASW's education committee will select students to receive the fellowship and will pair each one with a veteran writer for a one-day mentoring program.
Fellowship recipients will write a news article on a scientific session of their choosing, which we will edit and post on the NASW website.
Recipients make their own travel arrangements to Washington and provide receipts for reimbursement after the meeting. NASW will pair up students in hotel rooms if winners would like to defray costs.
Only currently enrolled undergraduate students are eligible for travel fellowships. Students may study in any major, but preference will be given to those who have published articles about science in student newspapers or elsewhere.
The world's largest general science society, AAAS holds a major annual meeting that draws leading scientists from all disciplines. Hundreds of American and international science writers from magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and web cover the event. NASW also will conduct an internship fair at AAAS for young science journalists.
Please copy the application below into an email and send it with the required writing sample (as an attachment) by 5 p.m. EST Wed., Dec. 1, 2010, to mentor@nasw.org. We will select winners by Dec. 15.
---APPLICATION: NASW STUDENT TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP TO AAAS 2011---
Name: ________________________________________________________
Mailing address: _____________________________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________
Telephone number(s): _________________________________________
Birthdate: ___________________________________________________
School: ______________________________________________________
Major: _______________________________________________________
Minor (if any): ______________________________________________
Anticipated Graduation Date: _________________________________
Faculty reference (Please provide the name and contact information for a professor who is willing to discuss your qualifications if needed):
Describe any journalism experience you have outside of the classroom (school newspaper, internships, etc):
Please describe any of your classes or extracurricular activities that reflect an interest in science or communicating science:
The main component of your application will be a science writing sample, roughly 400 to 800 words in length. You may include a previously published clip (from a school newspaper, for example). However, we will also accept original, unpublished entries that meet the requirements below:
- A profile of a researcher at your school. It should describe the person's research goals and methods, as well as why the scientist finds the work important or fascinating. While the profile can include the researcher's background, a premium should be placed on clearly and accurately describing the science he or she is conducting. The style should be journalistic; imagine trying to place this story in the school newspaper or alumni magazine. (Please provide the researcher's contact information as well)
OR
- A news account of a scientific lecture or presentation given by a university researcher or a visiting scientist. This is not intended to be a coverage of a class lecture; the talk covered should be one given to a wider audience, whether the full university or a specific department, and the story should place the researcher's latest work in context. Examples: A botany professor discussing new plant species her team found in the Amazon, or an astronomer describing how new observations of supernovae provide an age for the universe. This story may require a post-talk interview with the researcher. (Please provide time and date of the talk and the researcher's contact information as well.)
