5 Nature Columnists awards

Nature’s Careers section is pleased to announce a new international competition to select 5 young scientist columnists for 2011. All currently enrolled science graduate students and working postdocs are eligible. Over the course of the year, each columnist will write 2 or more columns to be published in Nature. Columnists will also be asked to write 3 or more online-only journal entries that chart their ups and downs through the year and describe how their experiences have shaped their future career choices. We ask that applicants provide 3 things:

A cover letter explaining why you want to be considered and what would make you a good columnist. Include your institutional affiliation, general area of research, the focus of your graduate degree, and how long you've been a graduate student
or postdoc.

A sample first column, 600 words long, that uses personal experience to provide insight on a topic of great interest to young scientists. The winning columnists will likely have these entries published first (after some editing), so they should be written as if they were to appear in the Careers section.

           Your CV.

For examples of past columns, including some from past Postdoc Journal keepers,
         see here:
             www.nature.com/naturejobs/archive/col/2010.html <http://links.ealert.nature.com/ctt?kn=2&m=36287351&r=MTc3MDI1NDg1NQS2&b=0&j=OTQ2NjQyMDAS1&mt=1&rt=0>
           www.nature.com/naturejobs/archive/prospects/2010.html <http://links.ealert.nature.com/ctt?kn=10&m=36287351&r=MTc3MDI1NDg1NQS2&b=0&j=OTQ2NjQyMDAS1&mt=1&rt=0>


For past journal entries, see here:
             Postdoc Journals 2011 <http://links.ealert.nature.com/ctt?kn=11&m=36287351&r=MTc3MDI1NDg1NQS2&b=0&j=OTQ2NjQyMDAS1&mt=1&rt=0>
           Postdoc journals 2010 <http://links.ealert.nature.com/ctt?kn=12&m=36287351&r=MTc3MDI1NDg1NQS2&b=0&j=OTQ2NjQyMDAS1&mt=1&rt=0>


Deadline for applications is February 28, 2011.


The applicants will be judged by a panel that includes Careers editorial staff and past Postdoc Journal keepers. Applicants must commit to submitting regular contributions, whether columns or journal entries, for one year regardless of any changes in student or employment status. Columnists are not paid. The winners will be notified by late March.


Please email the cover letter, sample entry and CV as Word document attachments to naturejobseditor@naturedc.com. In the subject line, write 'Careers column contest' and state the country you are based in and your discipline (example: Careers column contest, Canada, cell biology).