MRC Max Perutz Award

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Max Perutz Award is our science communication competition for current MRC PhD students. To enter, students need to tell a non-scientific audience why their area of research matters.

The award aims to:

encourage and recognise outstanding science communication
help MRC PhD students build their science communication skills

For the first time, we are accepting both written and video entries, each in their own category. Ten entries will be shortlisted (five from each category) and a winner and a runner-up will be selected from each. Students can only enter one category per award year. Previous winners of the award cannot enter again.

The two winning entries will be published by our media partner, The Observer. MRC will also publish all runners-up and shortlisted entries on our channels.

There are cash prizes for:

two winners: £1,500
two runners-up: £750
six shortlisted entries: £375

Who can enter

You are eligible to enter if you are:

an MRC-funded PhD student in a university
a PhD student in an MRC unit, centre or institutes, regardless of your source of funding
a student currently enrolled on the master’s segment of an MRC-funded integrated master’s or PhD

Previous winners are not eligible to enter.

What we're looking for

Your entry should tell a non-scientific audience why your area of research matters.

In the writing category, this should be in 1,100 words. In the video category, this should be in up to 60 seconds.

Make sure you communicate in a way that will interest a non-scientific audience.

Get creative, tell a story and grab the attention of the audience straightaway. Your aim is to make them want to know more about the research.

You can communicate your research or the research of someone you work with. It just needs to be in your area of research.

If you haven’t started your research yet or it’s at an early stage, you can still share the research you are planning to do and why it is important.

How to enter

General entry criteria and guidelines

Entries must be:

original content that has not already been submitted or published elsewhere
in English
scientifically accurate

Additional entry criteria and guidelines for the writing category

For the writing category, entries must:

be no more than 1,100 words, including the title (anything over the word count will be disregarded as part of your entry)
be text only (do not include diagrams or tables)
use Arial 11pt font and be 1.5 spaced
not include academic references or a bibliography
not include any text-level formatting such as bold, italics, strikethroughs (for web accessibility reasons)

Additional entry criteria and guidelines for the video category

For the video category, entries must be:

up to 60 seconds long (anything over the time limit will be disregarded)
filmed in vertical orientation (portrait)

Content

Videos should not include swearing, extreme violence or inappropriate sexual content or nudity. You do not have to feature in your video.

Footage

Any footage taken must follow appropriate health and safety guidelines. Check your university or research institute’s guidance for getting permission from anyone else in the video, including any participants under 18 years of age.

Equipment and costs

Any video or film camera may be used, including smartphones. Animation, motion graphics and special effects are allowed. Any costs are entirely the responsibility of the producer.

Copyright

If you include any footage or content from a third party, you are responsible for gaining and acknowledging their permission in the application form, including but not limited to visuals, narration and music. You are not allowed to use artificial intelligence as a support tool.

Captions

You should add your own captions or subtitles. YouTube provides automatic subtitles but this does not guarantee their accuracy for scientific terms.

Entry agreement

I agree to and confirm the following:

I have read and understood the MRC Max Perutz Award guidelines in full and meet the eligibility requirements as stated in them
the entry I submit to the MRC Max Perutz Award 2025 is my own work and has not been submitted or published elsewhere. I will not submit or publish my entry elsewhere until after The Observer and MRC publish the winning entries
the topic of my entry is within the area of my research
I give permission to MRC and UK Research and Innovation to use and publish my name, image and entry on their communication channels, if chosen to be shortlisted
I have checked my university or research institute’s guidance for getting permission from anyone else in my entry, including any participants under 18 years of age
I have gained and acknowledged any third-party permission for my entry
I have notified my supervisor of my entry and will not share any confidential information about the award with anyone prior to any official announcement by MRC
I agree to a Creative Commons license that retains my copyright of my entry while allowing others to copy, distribute, and make some uses of it. I give permission to The Observer and MRC to publish my entry if it is shortlisted
I understand that failing to follow any of the above or providing any false information may disqualify my entry

Submit your entry

To enter, you need to complete the entry form, following all instructions and providing all required information as appropriate.

Entries must be submitted by 5:00pm UK time on 24 July 2025.

Complete the form and submit your entry.

How to make your entry

Written entry

Write your article so that a non-scientific reader can understand it, and so that it is appropriate for publication in The Observer. We suggest that you:

bring in the research straight away and be clear about why it’s important to talk about it now
avoid too much history and background. Aim to engage the reader with the research from the beginning
avoid writing a general review. Focus on the research
concentrate on what is new and exciting about the research and what it might mean. For example, will it transform how a disease is treated? Does it pose deep ethical questions? Will it change society in years to come?
tell a story, rather than write an opinion piece
experiment with structure. You do not need to tell your story in a linear way
speak with other scientists who are experts in the topic you are writing about; they may help to contextualise the research
feel free to quote people in the story rather than research papers, even if they hold opposing views
bear in mind that it’s not enough to simply inform your readers; you need to engage them too. They always have other things they could be doing with their time
look at the science coverage in The Observer for more ideas.

For more writing tips and a summary of feedback from judging panels on previous entries, read about the secrets of science writing.

Video entry

Make your video so that it’s engaging for a non-scientific audience, and so that it is appropriate for publication on YouTube.

Read this blog to learn how to make a YouTube Short video plus some examples and ideas.

We suggest that you:

bring in the research immediately
engage your audience, they always have other things they could be doing with their time
concentrate on what is new and exciting about the research and what it might mean. For example, will it transform how a disease is treated? Does it pose deep ethical questions? Will it change society in the years to come?
tell a story rather than make an opinion piece
experiment with structure, you do not need to tell your story in a linear way
speak with other scientists who are experts in the topic you are talking about, they may help to contextualise the research

Video production tips:

think about showing us what you do, examples are great
words and images work best together. Wherever possible, show do not tell
get creative with your location
if you’re speaking, make sure we can hear you. Find a quiet location
if you’re in the picture, make sure we can see you and avoid backlighting. Try to put a source of light in front of you (lamp or window) or get outside
if you’re in the picture, plain colours are best. Avoid bright colours and obvious branding

How we assess your entry

All submitted entries will be triple-marked through a judging process.

The shortlist of the top 10 entries (five from each category) will then be reviewed by a judging panel. Throughout the judging process, the entries will be assessed using the following criteria:

creativity: you should grab the interest of the audience, from the first word or frame to the very last
content: explain clearly to the audience why the research matters
language: explain the research in a way that is easily understood by a non-scientific audience
structure: it should be organised in a way that draws the audience along

The judges’ decision will be final.

Previous award winners

The winners of the MRC Max Perutz Award from 2012 to 2024 are listed.

Award background

The award is named after the well-known scientist and Nobel Laureate, Dr Max Perutz, an accomplished and natural communicator. He was a passionate advocate for communicating the benefits of science and engaging people with research. Dr Perutz was a molecular biologist who founded the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in 1962.

MRC started the award in 1998 as a science writing competition. In 2022, we celebrated and showcased 25 years of positive impact on previous winners. Now in its 27th year, the award is a broader science communication competition with both writing and video categories.

Since the competition began in 1998, more than 1,000 MRC researchers have entered to communicate their research to the public.

Ask a question about the award