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The University of Valencia (UV) and the science communication platform The Conversation have announced the 1st Science Communication Award with the aim of promoting, acknowledging and boosting the public dissemination of research carried out at the UV. It is open to individuals who have defended or submitted their doctoral thesis at the University between 1 September 2024 and 30 April 2025. The period for submission of articles will begin the day after the publication of the extract of the resolution of the call in the Official Journal of the Government of Valencia (DOGV) (pending publication) and will end on 25 June 2025 (included).
Participants must submit a popular science article of no more than 1,000 words based on the subject of their doctoral thesis, placing special emphasis on the scientific and social relevance of the research in progress. Each author may submit only one article, which must be original, unpublished and not previously awarded in any other competition, and must fall within one of the following categories: Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, Basic Sciences or Engineering.
A prize of €300 will be awarded in each of the six categories. The prize is indivisible and subject to legally established deductions. The winning articles will be published in The Conversation, after editing where appropriate. The jury’s decision will be made public on Monday 30 June.
Articles must be submitted in PDF format via the UV’s online office: http://webges.uv.es/uventreuweb. The submission must be addressed to “Serveis universitaris, generals i centrals”, specifically to “Unitat de Cultura Científica i de la Innovació”. The cover page must include the article’s title, the category for which it is being submitted and the author’s name, address, telephone number and email address. In addition, a signed declaration confirming the original and unpublished nature of the work must be attached.
The articles will be assessed anonymously by the jury, and therefore must not contain any reference to their authorship, either in the text or in any accompanying images. The jury will be made up of Carolina Moreno, professor of Journalism at the University of Valencia; José Miguel Soriano, professor of Nutrition at the University of Valencia; Rafael Sarralde, managing director of The Conversation; and Elena Sanz, editor-in-chief of The Conversation.
The jury will evaluate the works submitted according to the following criteria: scientific interest and coherence (maximum of 3 points); creativity and originality (3 points); clarity of exposition and text structure (3 points); and correct use of syntax and spelling (1 point).
The jury will follow a system of successive votes until a majority is reached for a particular article in each category. If the jury considers that none of the articles submitted meet the minimum quality standards required for publication or fail to achieve a minimum score of 8 points, the prize may be withheld. The amount of the prize will not be divided under any circumstances. The award regulations and decision will be published on the University of Valencia’s notice board, which will serve as official notification.
