Science Writing Prize 2025

Are you a current student carrying out health or wellbeing-related research at the University of Otago, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, with an interest in communicating your science to a wider audience?  

Then the Otago Medical School Research Society Science Writing Award is for you! 

We want you, in no more than 800 words, to tell us why your research matters in a way that would interest a non-scientific audience. Tell us about your research and why it is important. Why does it interest you? Why should it interest the reader? The winning article will be published by the Otago Daily Times. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize sponsored by the Otago School of Biomedical Sciences. The runner up will receive a $250 prize sponsored by Kainic Medical Communications. 

Judging criteria 

The judging criteria will be: 

• Does the article answer the question why does my research matter? 

• Does the article explain the writer’s research in a way that is easy to understand? 

• Is it a compelling read? 

The article must be based on the research you are doing or have done as part of your degree, diploma or summer project. This could be on the whole of the project or on one aspect, but it should not be a general review of the area. 

The piece should be aimed at a non-specialist audience; written at a level that an interested member of the public could understand while conveying the significance of your research or key issues. 

  The rules 

• The competition is open to all undergraduate or postgraduate students carrying out health-related research currently enrolled at the University of Otago. Past winners in this competition are not eligible to compete. 

• One entry per author, and only one author per entry, submitted via the student’s University email address.  

• The article should be no more than 800 words. Pieces with more than 800 words will be declined.  

• A coversheet should include the title of your article, your name, email address, Department/School in which you are studying and your degree, a contact telephone number, and word count of your piece. Please use 12-point font without templates for the cover sheet.  

• The article should be text only: no diagrams or tables should be included. Please use a 12-point font and double line spacing. A reference list is not necessary. 

• Entries close at 5pm on Friday 29th of August, 2025. 

• Articles should be emailed to ewan.kennedy@otago.ac.nz with the subject line “OMSRS Science Writing Submission”. Articles should be attached and in the “.doc” or “.docx” file format. 

• The judges’ decision will be final. 

• The winner will be declared in the week of the 1st of October at an informal afternoon tea celebration (details to follow) 

• Any questions? Contact: Dr Ewan Kennedy (ewan.kennedy@otago.ac.nz)