Call for Submissions to Schramm Science Journalism Award

The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society (HEAD/AAS) is soliciting nominations and submissions for the 15th David N. Schramm Award. The purpose of the Schramm Award is to recognize and stimulate distinguished writing on high-energy astrophysics.

Submissions must be received by Wednesday, November 1, 2021. Only articles that have been published since the last Schramm Award (April 2020) are eligible for consideration. Articles can cover any aspect of high-energy astrophysics, including experimental and theoretical studies of high-energy photons and particles from the cosmos, covering the disciplines of X-ray, gamma-ray and cosmic-ray astronomy, as well as the study of gravitational waves.

All forms of science reporting — including blog entries, online-only articles, and other multimedia — will be considered. Each author may submit two separate pieces. Please note that only electronic submissions will be accepted. Therefore, if only hard copies of articles exist, please have them scanned into an easy-to-read format such as PDF. All submissions must be emailed to Megan Watzke (mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu) by the deadline above.

The Schramm Award consists of a prize of $1,500 and a plaque containing a citation given to the author of the article judged best by the committee. The publisher of the winning work will receive a certificate honoring the publication in which the work appeared. The will be presented to the winner at the next HEAD meeting, which will be held from March 13-17, 2022 in Pittsburgh, PA (https://aas.org/meetings/head19). The winner of the Schramm award is strongly encouraged to attend this meeting and the HEAD/AAS will pay the winning author’s personal travel. Note the HEAD does not charge registration fee for journalists who attend Divisional meetings.

The entries will be judged by a distinguished committee selected by high-energy astrophysicists and science communication professionals. The results will be announced on December 1, 2021. The decision of this judging committee will be final.

David Schramm was a distinguished scientist who is widely regarded as the founder of the field of particle astrophysics, a discipline where cosmology and particle physics meet.

Contact:
Megan Watzke
HEAD Press Officer
Chandra X-ray Center
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
617-496-7998