Popularizer of Science 2021 competition launched

The competition organized annually by PAP - Science in Poland and the Ministry of Education and Science is to honour people, teams and institutions that promote science in Poland. The prizes are awarded to those who help others better understand the world, and are able to interest persons not associated with science in scientific developments.

Candidates can be proposed until 23:59 on September 10 and will be evaluated by a jury composed of science promoters, representatives of the scientific community, the Ministry of Education and Science and the website PAP - Science in Poland. The jury is chaired by Professor Michał Kleiber.

From among the candidates, the jury will select the Grand Prize winner. This, the most prestigious award in the competition, will be granted to the person, team or institution that promotes science exceptionally creatively and effectively.

Winners will also be selected in five thematic categories: Scientist, Animator, Team, Institution and Media.

People who have at least a doctoral degree, for example researchers or academic teachers, compete for the award in the Scientist category, which has been the most popular category in the competition for years. Candidates in this category can be scientists who promote science among people unrelated to their field.

The Animator category is for those who do not hold a degree or title in science, for example students and doctoral students, administrative staff of universities, people with no affiliation to scientific institutions.

The award in the Team category is intended for groups of people who promote science together, but are not necessarily affiliated with a specific institution. They can be, for example, people who jointly carry out popular science projects, or teams operating outside the administrative boundaries of scientific institutions. They can also be science clubs as well as groups of friends or Internet users who jointly promote science.

The Institution category was created for scientific institutions, non-scientific organizations and enterprises. Research institutes, university units, consortia, non-governmental organizations, science centres and private companies can present their science promotion achievements in this category.

The award in the Media category may be given to journalists, the media, editors, as well as internet users who create popular science content: bloggers, fanpage and web page teams.

While evaluating the entries, the jury will pay attention to such aspects as the originality of activities, maturity of initiatives and their grassroots nature.

The winners will be announced during the final gala at the end of 2021.

The Popularizer of Science competition has a long tradition. More than 100 awards and distinctions have been awarded since 2005. The competition rules also make it possible to nominate candidates who have already won the competition - previous laureates. Many of them could have new science promotion achievements that deserve to be rewarded. Previous winners, who wish to take part in the competition again, must fulfil the following condition: the reported promotion activities may not be related to the previously granted award. In other words, only the promotion activity after receiving the title of the Popularizer of Science should be described.

Candidates can enter the competition themselves or be proposed by a third party (with the candidate's consent), and in the case of institutions or teams - through their representatives. Entry form is available on the PAP - Science in Poland website.

Like every year, the editorial team of PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland will additionally grant special Tomasz Trzciński Award for benchmark information policy. Candidates in this category are not accepted; the winner will be selected by the editorial team.

The competition 'Popularizer of Science', organised since 2005, is the oldest and most prestigious competition in Poland. Previous winners of the competition include: philosopher of nature Fr. Prof. Michał Heller, neuroscientist Prof. Jerzy Vetulani, author of popular science television programs Wiktor Niedzicki, journalist Tomasz Rożek, promoter of astronomy Karol Wójcicki, authors of the website 'Nauka o klimacie', the duo 'Crazy Nauka', as well as institutions such as the Copernicus Science Centre, Polish Academy of Kids and the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology.

To enter the competition, complete the form available on THIS page: http://www.naukawpolsce.pap.pl/form/popularyzator-nauki

The competition rules are available on THIS page.

In the case of individual candidates who do not nominate themselves, it is also necessary to send a scanned document with the hand-signed candidate's consent to participate in the competition. A template of such consent can be downloaded from THIS page.

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