Summer reading
After a summer full of reading, we are delighted to announce that we have a shortlist for the 2021 MRC Max Perutz Science Writing Award. The award aims to encourage and recognise outstanding written communication by MRC PhD students.
The competition, which launched in May 2021, challenged students to explain why their research matters in 1,100 words for a non-scientific audience. As others headed off to the beach, our judges spent the summer months reading some wonderfully written articles.
The shortlist
We received some excellent entries this year. Thank you to everyone who entered and congratulations to the following shortlisted writers:
Vicky Bennett, GW4 BioMed MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, University of Bath
Article: Cranberry juice won’t cut it anymore
Elisa Brann, MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, King’s College London
Article: Exploring psychosis using hypnosis
Sofia Carozza, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Article: Shining a light on childhood adversity
Karolina Farrell, MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, University College London
Article: Toward reward: how dopamine calls us to action
Ross Hannah, MRC Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh
Article: In-DNA Jones: readers of the lost mark
Catherine Heffner, MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, University College London
Article: Teatime at grandma’s
Paige Street, MRC Harwell, University of Oxford
Article: Schizophrenia – the gene ‘keeping it in the family’
Imogen Swift, UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London
Article: It’s in the blood: the race to treat frontotemporal dementia
Bindu Vekaria, MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, The University of Manchester
Article: Collaboration is key: unlocking new clinical knowledge
Sarah Withers, MRC Doctoral Training Partnership, The University of Manchester
Article: Casting the net to understand an invisible virus
Winner to be announced in October
For the second year running, the award is being presented in partnership with The Observer. The winner, who will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on 21 October, will receive £1,500 and have their article published in The Observer.
Top image: Credit: AzmanJaka / Getty Images