July 2008

I became wiser after reading them

’The judges in our science-writing competition faced tough decisions this year with entries of a particularly high standard, reports Roger Highfield

2008 1st Prize Winners Arron Rodriques and Erika Cule

The dark side of bone marrow transplants, the flight of the bumblebee and a plan for printers that can churn out replacement human tissues were just three of the subjects tackled in the vast range of articles submitted to the nation’s most prestigious science writing competition.

The Daily Telegraph’s 21st annual mission to find the future popularisers of science, engineering and technology was launched last November, offering our young readers the chance to see their name in print and win prizes worth thousands of pounds. There were more than 800,000 hits on the competition’s website, www.science-writer.co.uk, and roughly 300 entries, of which a third were passed on to our judges. They sorted the best in terms of style, novelty and how difficult the topic was to explain clearly – while watching out for plagiarism, poor grammar and excessive jargon. Finally, we all gathered a few weeks ago at the Telegraph offices to spend a morning bantering and arguing over the winners.

Backed by Bayer, the company that invented aspirin, and with the support of the Royal Society, this year’s competition extended the lower age limit for entry by a year, and came in two age categories: 15-19 and 20-28.

In previous years, as Sir David Attenborough pointed out, there seemed to be a golden rule that the entries that got the most votes from the judges in the first round usually ended up being pushed out of the top spot. But not this year, despite what turned out to be a very high quality of entries.
 
15-19 year olds

Much to our surprise, this category had a stand-out candidate: a description of a novel treatment for cancer using “nanotechnology”, outlined by Arron Rodriques of Oundle School.

“It just said what it wanted to say, cooly and factually, which was good,” said author Fay Weldon. Steve Painter of Bayer found it reassuring that “as the non-scientist among the judges, I agree that Arron should be number one”.

The real struggle was for second place. An entry on the coldest spot in the cosmos was a strong contender, as was another on the mysterious Planet X, although Sir David thought it was “written for people who are already interested”.

In the end, Felicity Muth got the nod for her fun retelling of the familiar story of the quest to create artificial spider silk, which would be stronger than Kevlar and stretch better than nylon.
 
20-28 year olds
 
“There are lots of whales and bees and all kinds of things,” remarked Mary Archer, prompting me to reply that colourful accounts of frog hunts in Costa Rica are much easier to deliver than easy-to-grasp explanations of superstring theory. “There’s nothing wrong with frog hunts in Costa Rica,” thundered Sir David.

As it turned out, the winner was not a “creature story”. Indeed, it broke several rules, containing more science fiction than science fact and having a high jargon count. Yet Erika Cule’s take on the implications of the revolution in personal genomics stood out from the rest of the entries, which tended to be efficiently written but not sparklingly so.

After I announced my top three, Sir David Attenborough said he had “exactly the same first two”. One was Erika’s, and as we went around the panel, her name was mentioned again and again. Richard Fortey thought her entry “very original and refreshing”, and it made Adam Hart-Davis laugh – “Well, giggle.” Fay Weldon noted that few entrants could pull off this kind of approach.

Richard Fortey pointed out that the also-rans were all well structured, making him wonder how many had been on science communication courses. In the end, Charlotte Chester’s account of sunbathing and natural alternatives to suntan lotion squeezed into second place.

One sad and final note: Adrian Sudbury, who wrote movingly of his fight with cancer, has since launched a campaign to drive home to sixth-form students the importance of blood, bone marrow and organ donation. The reason is that his treatment has failed: “My leukaemia had relapsed spectacularly, and I am not going to survive.”
 
Overall verdict of the judges
 
“The standard is up. Half a dozen of the shortlist could have been winners,” Adam Hart-Davis, TV presenter

“I was impressed by how well-written the pieces were. We have had times when almost every entry was flawed in some way by how it was put together. There were some extremely clear pieces that explained things from corners of science I don’t know about, and I became wiser after reading them,” Richard Fortey, president, Geological Society

“I am amazed at their energy and willingness to tackle all kinds of subjects. The standard is high,” Fay Weldon, author.

“A pity about the decline in entries on chemistry and the hard sciences,” Dr Mary Archer, chairman, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

“What comes out of it is the excitement of minds meeting new things for the first time. They are unjaded and full of enthusiasm and excitement,” Sir David Attenborough

“A lot of variety. The younger mind isn’t afraid to explore, but the older age group seemed to be reined in,” Steve Painter, head of corporate communications, Bayer UK/Ireland

“The issue-led articles were too light. I preferred those that related more to the real world,” Dr Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief, 'Nature’ magazine

“People seemed to have written on a wider range of topics this year. It’s good to see that all branches of science are getting a fair shake,” Jeremy Webb, editor-in-chief, 'New Scientist’ magazine
 
Winners 20-28
 
1st Erika Cule, Imperial College London
2nd Charlotte Chester, c/o  Becketts Bank

Adrian Sudbury, Huddersfield Examiner 
Katrina Megget, Bradford and Bingley 
Maria Hogan, Newcastle College
Nichola Raihani, University of Cambridge
Rebecca Robey, Cancer Institute, UCL
Rebecca Nesbit, University of York
Simon Harold, Leeds University
Susan Kirk, BSS, Cavendish Laboratory
Teresa Livemore, Paraxel International
 
Winners 15-19
 
1st Arron Rodriques, Oundle School
2nd Felicity Muth, Edinburgh University

Alison Fulford, Strathearn School
Harriet Weller, Christ’s Hospital
Matthew Wright, Caerleon Comprehensive School
Natalya Kelly, The Grange School
Rory Reihill, Uppingham School
Samantha Carter, Bancrofts School
Sergei Palmer, University College School
Sophie McGlade, Tormead School
William Torgerson, Fulford Schoolroger
 
Schools prize
 
The Grange School in Cheshire carried off the prize again with 31 entries. This year, two other schools did very well: followed by Uppingham, Rutland, with 16 and Bancrofts, Essex, with 12.