Nature’s Careers section is pleased to announce our latest international competition to select five young scientist columnists for 2013. All currently enrolled science graduate students and working postdocs are eligible.
Over the course of the year, each columnist will write at least one column to be published in Nature, and will be encouraged to pitch more. Columnists will also be asked to write two or more Blog entries for the Naturejobs blog, charting their ups and downs through the year and describing how their experiences have shaped their future career choices.
We ask that applicants provide three things:
- A cover letter explaining why you want to be considered and what would make you a good columnist. Include your institutional affiliation, general area of research, the focus of your graduate degree, and how long you’ve been a graduate student or postdoc.
- A sample first column, 650 words long, that uses personal experience to provide insight on a topic of great interest to young scientists. The winning columnists will likely have this entry published first (after some editing), so they should be written as if they were to appear in the Careers section.
- Your CV.
Some examples of past columns from past winners:
- Too many tasks by Adam James
- The magical world of data sharing by Andrew Peterman
- Time to tweet by Gaston Small
Some examples of past Blog entries:
- When I grow up by Lucie Low
- What’s in a dream? by Adam Jones
- Between Elmo and Einstein by Lydia Murray
The deadline for applications is March 29 2013.
The applicants will be judged by a panel that includes Careers editorial staff and past Careers Columnists. Applicants must commit to submitting regular contributions, whether columns or Blog entries, for one year regardless of any changes in student or employment status. Columnists will be paid small stipends — $150 per Column, $50 per journal entry. The winners will be notified by mid April.
Please email the cover letter, sample entry and CV as Word document attachments to naturecareerseditor@us.nature.com. In the subject line, write ‘Careers columnist contest’ and state the country you are based in and your discipline (example: Careers columnist contest, Canada, cell biology).
Good luck and thanks for your interest!
Gene Russo, Careers editor
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Really interesting contest, but I have a question, because I am doubting about send or not send an application. My question is if the payment, if you are one of the winners, will imply a signed legal contract.
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Any news about the results??