Feature: Tracking down the past winners of our essay competition

31 March 2009. By Mun-Keat Looi

The Wellcome Trust-New Scientist Essay Competition has, for over a decade, encouraged postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers in science, engineering and technology to communicate their science and explore the possible implications of their research for society.

For some past winners, the competition provided a springboard to a career in science journalism or broadcasting, while for others it reaffirmed their passion for research. Mun-Keat Looi asked some previous winners about their experience of the competition, the impact it had on their careers and their tips for science writing.

Kerri Smith

First place 2005, for ‘FOXhunting: Exploring the genetics behind speech and language’

Then: MSc student at the University of Oxford

Now: Podcast Editor for Nature

I’d always been interested in writing and thought the ideas behind my MSc project were really interesting and would appeal to a general audience. But I much preferred talking with a friend over coffee about the ideas behind the research I was doing rather than doing the research itself.

The competition gave postgrads an opportunity to convey their passion about what they’ve been doing. If you are working in science, there aren’t too many opportunities – the media in general is not that science-friendly. Even student papers tend to look at broadsheets as their models, and the people that run them are likely to be humanities students who might not be that into science, so it’s quite hard to get stuff published.

Whatever anyone’s PhD or Master’s is on, there’s always an angle that people will think is interesting. It just depends on how you express it. Quotes also help to bring things to life. Speak to your lab head or someone who’s just reviewed your paper to see what they liked about it, what they think is fascinating about your particular field.

James Randerson

Third place 2001, for ‘Military ecology’

Then: PhD student at the University of Bath

Now: Environment Website Editor at the Guardian

“During my PhD, I wrote popular science articles for a student magazine and for publications like ‘BBC Wildlife Magazine’. I entered the Wellcome Trust-New Scientist competition on the off chance that, if I placed well in it, it would enhance my CV and help me get into science journalism. After my PhD I applied for an internship with ‘New Scientist’ and ended up working there for five years, becoming

Deputy News Editor before moving on to the ‘Guardian’ as a science correspondent.

One piece of advice is to really step back from your project as far as you can. Try not to say too much. Communicate clearly and without jargon, so you can get your message across in a way that is accessible to someone who is interested but not an expert in the subject.

Jon Copley

First place 1997, for ‘The Secret Life of Shrimp’

Then: PhD student at the University of Southampton

Now: Lecturer in Marine Ecology at the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton

For me, science without science communication is like the sound a tree makes when it falls in the woods with no one around to hear it. The competition raises the profile of science communication as an important part of how we do research. All who take part benefit from the experience of communicating with non-specialists about their work, a vital skill for a modern research career.

The skills involved are highly transferable for a research career. My colleagues and I recently received funding to explore the world’s deepest undersea volcanoes and I am sure that writing a decent ‘non-specialist’ summary in the application helped. And the same skills are involved when communicating with colleagues from other disciplines.

Your primary goal as a writer is not to educate readers about your subject, it’s to inform readers about what you and doing and why it matters.Think about what they need to know and what interests them.

My wife and I have recently created Connecting Science, an online social network for scientists who want to engage wider audiences about their work. Our goal is to equip as broad a cohort of scientists as possible with the skills to engage wider audiences about their work.

Helen Margerison

Third place 2005, for ‘Too cold to snow? A fresh look at climate warming in Antarctica’

Then: PhD student at the University of Edinburgh

Now: TV Producer for Tern TV

I realised when I was doing my PhD that it was quite media friendly. I’d just got back from Antarctica and it struck a chord that my results were the opposite of what was being reported in the papers. They said that, if it became warmer, the Antarctic was going to shrink, which is right for the West Antarctic ice sheet that most reports were on. But I was working in the East Antarctic, which was totally different to that, where it was too cold to snow and if it did the glaciers would actually get bigger. So I decided to write up something based on that finding.

There are too few scientists in media and there needs to be more of us, I think. There’s a way to tell every kind of science, but I think people are very interested generally in science and it’s our job to get people listening. The best advice I can give is to just get writing. I struggled sometimes with a blank sheet, but you just have to start even if you haven’t got everything quite sorted.

Nora Lydia Schultz

First place 2006, for ‘How to fold a fish: What cells do during neurulation’

Then: PhD student at the University of Cambridge

Now: Research Officer for the German National Ethics Council

When I entered I was about halfway through my PhD on zebrafish neurodevelopment, trying to work out how cell movements were making the whole tissue change shape.

Winning the essay competition helped me realise I really enjoy dealing with a range of topics in my work. I had done some work as a writer in Germany before I embarked on my biology career and part of me wanted to give that another go.

Writing my essay came surprisingly easily. It came naturally for me to be enthusiastic about the bits that I found fascinating and to find nice language to describe it.

The job I’m doing now has a lot of components of science communication but offers the chance to look at things in a bit more depth than in news journalism. And I still do some freelance work in my spare time, so at the moment I am getting the best of both worlds.

Mark Walton

Third place winner 2003, for ‘Is it really worth it?’

Then: Final year DPhil in psychology student, University of Oxford

Now: Wellcome Trust Advanced Training Fellow split between the University of Oxford and the University of Washington, Seattle

Part of my reason for entering, I have to admit, was procrastination in the face of writing my thesis! But it was definitely a good opportunity to write something like this, to have a place for working scientists immersed in research to come up to breathe and consider the broader implications of the work. I thought it a good way to see whether I could explain and communicate the strange process of doing both my research and research in general.

I think trying to balance a level of explanation that is comprehensible to a lay audience while not talking down to them is really important. One that translates the essence of the research; the tedium, the frustration, the disappointment and, often, the day-to-day drudgery that goes into producing even the most thrilling and beautiful work.

Main image: Golkin Oleg/iStockphoto