NATIONAL ACADEMIES COMMUNICATION AWARDS

The National Academies and W.M. Keck Foundation have announced a 15-year, $40 million grant from the Keck Foundation to underwrite the “National Academies Keck Futures Initiative,” a Program designed to “realize the untapped potential of interdisciplinary research.” The program includes a National Academies Communication Awards component that will make three $20,000 awards each year of the program.

The candidate pool for these awards will include science, engineering, and medical researchers, as well as journalists, authors, and producers who have demonstrated excellence in communication in print, radio, television, or film.

The communication awards have the stated goals of providing recognition for outstanding communicators in science, technology, and medicine; of creating a broader understanding among federal and private decision-makers and the public; and of showing researchers and non-researchers alike that excellence in communication across boundaries and the advancement of public’s understanding of science are themselves significant and valued achievements.

To receive an award, the communicator’s achievement must:

• be technically accurate
• address topics of current relevance and focus on work published or released within the previous two years
• be representative of cutting-edge advances in science, engineering, and/or medicine
• be compelling, engaging, and accessible to a broad audience, and effective in conveying inquiry and creative problem-solving as ways of knowing and living

The Academies will start accepting nominations for the awards starting June 1. For more information e-mail commawards@nasw.edu.

#

(Source: news release)