The winner of the Access to Understanding competition, a celebration of science-writing hosted in partnership by British Library and Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC), has just been announced.

“Entrants to the competition were challenged to summarise a cutting-edge research article, communicating in a simple and accessible way what the research is, and why it matters, for a non-specialist audience.”

“The overall winner, Emma Pewsey, a PhD student in material sciences at the University of Cambridge, was selected from among 400 entries from around the world for her entry explaining research that investigated the causes of hip fracture in the elderly.”

“A further eight entries were commended by the judging panel, spanning basic through to clinical science, and including complex papers on stem cells, cancer and genetics. The original articles are all available from Europe PMC, a free online life sciences and biomedical information resource.”

“The Access to Understanding competition aims to raise awareness amongst researchers of the increasing importance to the general public of being able to understand the outcomes of research which they pay for. Furthermore, it seeks to break down the barriers that highly technical research language presents to enabling understanding of research, and to encourage PhD students and early career post-doctoral researchers to develop their communications skills.”

To read the winning entries go to:  http://europepmc.org/ScienceWritingCompetition

[Source British Library press release:  http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/Winner-of-Access-to-Understanding-competition-is-announced-as-Europe-PubMed-Central-and-the-British-612.aspx ]

“On 5 February, ten international research funders jointly announced their participation in round three of the Digging into Data Challenge, a grant competition designed to spur computationally intensive research in the humanities and social sciences.”

“During the first two rounds of the Challenge, held in 2009 and 2011, nearly 150 teams, representing universities from across Canada, the Netherlands, the US, and the UK, competed to demonstrate how innovative, computationally intensive research methods could be used to address questions in the humanities and social sciences. Twenty-two of those teams were awarded grants during those earlier rounds, each of them demonstrating new methods for analysing vast digital resources used for humanities and social science research, like digital books, survey data, economic data, newspapers, music, and other scholarly, scientific, and cultural heritage resources that are now being digitized on a huge scale.”

“Due to the overwhelming popularity of the earlier rounds, the Digging into Data Challenge is pleased to announce that two additional funders have joined for round three, enabling this competition to have a world-wide reach into many different scholarly and scientific domains.”  “Jisc (United Kingdom) will be taking a supportive role by facilitating the progression of the project.”

“The closing date for applications is 15 May 2013. Further information about the competition and the application process (including all relevant documentation) can be found on the Digging for Data website: http://www.diggingintodata.org/ “

[Source Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) website:  http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/15008/digging-into-data-challenge.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ESRCCurrentFundingOpportunities+%28ESRC+Current+Funding+Opportunities%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Maps are to be the inspiration for a competition… which challenges students to develop an original videogame concept using the British Library’s world-famous cartographic collections. The Off the Map competition, which is run in partnership with the annual videogame festival GameCity and software company Crytek, will include maps showing a proposed plan to rebuild Stonehenge, and an important engraving of London made months after the Great Fire of 1666. The winning entrants will be announced and showcased at the GameCity8 festival in October this year.”

“Students from participating universities and colleges will be granted complete creative freedom to adapt the maps, using CryENGINE 3D technology to stretch, build or totally re-design the materials as they wish. It is hoped that as well as creating a traditional playable game level, entrants will use the opportunity to try new approaches and to create interactive environments that push at the boundaries of the definition of what a videogame, and a map, can be.”

To find out more about the Off the Map competition go to:  http://gamecity.org/news/off-the-map

[Source British Library press release:  http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/Videogaming-meets-cartography-Students-are-challenged-to-go-Off-the-Map-in-a-new-competition-5ea.aspx ]

“A new science writing competition has been announced… by the recently launched Europe PubMed Central (Europe PMC) and the British Library to encourage scientists to make current research exciting and engaging for all.”

“The competition ‘Access to Understanding’ is open to all bioscience researchers and the shortlisted entries will be invited to an awards ceremony at the British Library, with the winner receiving an iPad alongside their article being printed in eLife.”

“Researchers will be asked to choose from one of selection of journal articles and write an engaging article which could be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their scientific knowledge.”

The closing date for entries is: 11 January 2013.

To find out more or to enter, visit: www.europepmc.org/ScienceWritingCompetition

[Source Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) news:  http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/people-skills-training/2012/121205-n-competition-decode-science-research.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bbsrc+%28BBSRC+-+News+stories+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader  ]

“The Wellcome Trust [has launched] a major new annual screenwriting prize, in association with the BFI Film Fund. The Wellcome Trust Screenwriting Prize aims to encourage high-quality feature films inspired by biology and medicine, from genetics and infectious diseases to consciousness and mental health.”

“Judges of the prize will include representatives from the BFI and Film4. As well as receiving a £20 000 cash prize to develop their idea to first draft, the winning screenwriter will receive support from the Wellcome Trust to connect them with world-leading scientists and to help identify commercial partners and producers. The BFI will provide the writer with access to professional development executives to help them develop their screenplay.”

“The Wellcome Trust Screenwriting Prize aims to develop feature-length dramatic films, with both live action and animation projects eligible to apply. First and foremost, the judges will look for great stories with interesting characters and compelling screenplay ideas, which are creative in the way they incorporate biomedicine into the story.”

The deadline for entries is 10 August 2012.

[Source Wellcome Trust news: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2012/WTVM055502.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Researchers in the biomedical sciences are being offered the chance to sharpen their business skills in a new national competition. The Biomedical Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (Biomedical YES) will help PhD students and early-career researchers to develop entrepreneurial skills for biomedical industries.”

“The competition is organised by the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation (UNIEI) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), with support from GSK, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. It aims to develop key skills that will contribute to the UK’s bioeconomy and raise awareness of the advantages of collaborating with industry. The competition follows on from the success of other ‘YES’ competitions, such as Biotechnology YES which has upskilled over 3500 scientists over 17 years.”

“Application forms for Biomedical YES can be found on the Biotechnology YES website: www.biotechnologyyes.co.uk “

[Source BBSRC News: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/people-skills-training/2012/120516-pr-developing-biomedical-entrepreneurs.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bbsrc+%28BBSRC+-+News+stories+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

Vicki Purewal writes in a Nesta (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) blog:

 “In our blog in December I talked about how challenges prizes can be a very effective way to generate innovative solutions, as well as how they are not a new tool but are becoming an increasingly popular way to generate solutions to complex problems.  More on this can also be found in our new Challenge Prizes Landscape Review.”

“We have set up the Centre for Challenge Prizes to act as a hub for building knowledge about prizes across a range of sectors, and for disseminating this across the UK and beyond.  We will design and manage challenge prizes to deliver specific public benefit, and will generate and share learning and insights on the design and use of challenge prizes, working with a range of partners.”

To find out more, go to the Centre for Challenge Prizes website at: http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/challengeprizes

[Source Nesta blog: http://www.nesta.org.uk/assets/blog_entries/centreforchallengeprizeslaunches ]

“The People’s History Museum is delighted to announce details of its exciting Protest Photography Evening and young photographers’ competition.”

“Visitors are invited to explore the museum during a special late night opening to celebrate Museums at Night on Friday 18 May 2012.”

“The museum’s story charts the history of protest in the UK over the past two centuries, from the Peterloo Massacre and the suffragettes to more recent strikes and demonstrations.  The museum houses an archive of over 70,000 photographic images, including hundreds of protests in the UK. Some of these photos will be displayed at this special evening event.”

“Young photographers under the age of 25 who are studying, living or working in Greater Manchester are invited to become part of the museum’s story by submitting their own protest photography in our Protest Photography Competition.  Entrants must submit an analogue photograph under the theme of ‘Protest’ – it can be modern or past, peaceful or confrontational, creative or absurd. The only condition being it must be shot on film. The competition runs until Thursday 10 May at 5.00pm.”

For more information go to the People’s History Museum website at: http://www.phm.org.uk/whatson/protest-photography-evening-museums-at-night-2012/

[Source Manchester City Council website: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/news/article/6264/protest_photography_competition_and_evening_event_at_the_peoples_history_museum ]

 “The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £5m in feasibility projects and collaborative research and development to encourage the development and commercialisation of innovative approaches to sustainable manufacturing in the process industry. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has expressed interest in supporting this competition and will contribute up to a total of £1m to projects.”

“The competition opened on 27 February 2012 and the deadline for registration is at noon on 18 April 2012.”

Further information, including a description of the application process, is available on the TSB Competition website: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sustainable-manufacturing-for-the-process-industry.ashx

[Source EPSRC website: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/open/Pages/susman.aspx ]

“The international engineering community is being called upon to nominate their peers for the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.”

“Nominations for the prize, which will award £1 million to the winning engineer or group of engineers responsible for the world’s greatest modern engineering advancement which has had a demonstrable benefit for humanity, opened on February 28th.”

“Created last year, the aim for the prize is for it to become as highly regarded internationally as the Nobel prizes. It will be awarded biennially and the search for the winner will demonstrate the importance of engineering to the fabric of society in every country across the globe.”

“Nominations for the prize are open until 14 September 2012. Further details and how to make a nomination with conditions of entry can be found at the Queen Elizabeth Prize website. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in spring 2013.”

[Source Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council news: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2012/Pages/qep.aspx ]