American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is delighted to announce AAAS Mass Media Science& Engineering Fellows program. The fellowship is open to international students who are already studying in the United States and who hold visas that allow them to receive payment for work during the summer.
The fellowship program is designed to enhance coverage of science-related issues in the media in order to improve public understanding and appreciation of science and technology.
This highly competitive program strengthens the connections between scientists and journalists by placing advanced undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level scientists, engineers and mathematicians at media organizations nationwide.
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Who May Eligible:
To eligible, the candidates must be following all the eligibility criteria:
- Applicants must be enrolled as students (upper-level undergraduate or graduate) or postdoctoral trainees at a university — or
- Within one year of a completed degree — in the life, physical, health, engineering, computer, or social sciences or mathematics and related fields.
- Applicants must be US citizens or already hold visas that allow them to receive payment for work during the summer.
- Students enrolled in English, journalism, science journalism, or other non-technical fields are not eligible for the AAAS Mass Media fellowship.
How to Apply & Competition Rules:
To participate, the applicants must submit an online application form through the given link: https://www.aaas.org/fellowships/mass-media/about
Rules:
- AAAS cannot assist in obtaining/retaining visas.
- A complete application packet consists of:
- Applicant information (contact information, academic history etc.)
- Two references with contact information are required from all applicants, but only semifinalists’ references will be contacted.
- For those semifinalists two “Recommendation Questionnaires” must be completed online by recommenders you identify.
- At least one of the two recommenders should be a faculty member who can comment on your academic work. A third is optional but encouraged.
- Recommendations from those that can comment on your science communication or writing are highly encouraged as well.
- The questions (each with a 200-word limit) on the Recommendation Questionnaire are:
- Describe your work with the applicant(research, academic, communication, etc.). Highlight the applicant’s contribution, role, and accomplishments. This section is similar to what one would write in a standard letter of recommendation but should not be as extensive or as detailed.
- Describe why you think the fellowship is a good match for the candidate’s talents and interests. You may wish to highlight the applicant’s communication skills (written and/or verbal communication, ability to communicate with the public and diverse audiences), or characteristics such as intelligence, creativity, devotion to science communication, etc.
- Describe the applicant’s workplace skills (maturity, initiative, teamwork, and affability, ability to take criticism and direction, dependability, and respect for others—especially supervisors).
- Describe any additional information the selection committee should take into account (hardships the applicant has overcome or any circumstances that you feel the selection committee should know about).
- Your CV (text entered into the form, not an uploaded document).
- Candidate Questions: Responses to each of the 7 reflective questions found within the online application.
- Why are you, as a scientist or engineer, interested in participating in this program?
- What is your background has prepared you for this fellowship?
- How do you think the skills learned from the fellowship will impact your future career or academic plans?
- Have you had previous media-related experiences? Provide details.
- Describe any activities, other than previous media experiences; you have undertaken that involved increasing public understanding of science and technology.
- What community outreach or educational activities have you participated in, science-related or otherwise?
- How did you find out about the program?
- General Writing Sample: Brief sample of your writing on any subject–science or non-science topic and directed toward a non-scientific audience, using language appropriate for the general public. Do not submit technical or journal articles. 1000 words entered into the text box in the application.
- Sample News Story: A 750-word ‘news’ story for the general public summarizing a science, mathematics or engineering journal paper from the past 6 months (published after July 2018) and describing what the study’s findings are, why they are important, and what the impact will be on the public. The original paper must be primary literature (scientific paper published in a journal or presented at a scientific conference, not from a newspaper, magazine or other popular media). 750 words entered into the text box in the application.
- Upload source article: The journal article used to write your Sample News Story. This is the only item you will upload for the application.
Benefits:
- AAAS typically selects from 15-20 Mass Media Fellows each summer.
- Fellows are provided a weekly stipend of $500
- Aswell as travel expenses to and from AAAS and their sites.
Application Deadline:
The application deadline is January 15, 2019.
