CALL FOR STUDENT ESSAYS: The 2024 W. T. Stearn Student Essay Prize is open for submissions
The prize is awarded to the best original, unpublished essay in the history of natural history. The winner will receive £300 and the winning essay will normally be published in the Society’s journal Archives of Natural History, subject to the normal editorial process.
Closing date is 31 July 2024.
Download 2024 Application Form
Download the W. T Stearn 2024 poster
Instituted in 2007 to commemorate the work of William T. Stearn (1911–2001), a scholar whose work contributed much to the field and to this Society.
The competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students worldwide in full- or part-time education, and to postdoctoral students within two years of the award of their doctorate. It is not limited to members of SHNH.
The winner will receive £300 and the winning essay will normally be published in the Society’s journal Archives of Natural History, following peer review.
Guidelines
- Prize winners are chosen by a panel of 3 judges (all members of the Society).
- Competition opens on 01 February 2024.
- All entries must be received by the Secretary by 31 July 2024.
- Essays should not have been previously published, and must not be under consideration at another journal.
- Essays should not have been submitted for consideration for the William Stearn Essay Prize in a previous year.
Selection Criteria
- The prize will be awarded to the essay which contributes most significantly to the history of natural history, including its social and cultural aspects
Submission
- Entries must be in English and between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length including footnotes and references. Each entry must be accompanied by an abstract of between 300 and 500 words and keywords.
- Entries must follow the Style Guidelines of Archives of Natural History (https://www.euppublishing.com/page/anh/submissions).
- A copy of the essay (either a Word document or a PDF) should be e-mailed to the SHNH Secretary (secretary@shnh.org.uk). Images and graphs can be included within the main file.If the files are large please send by We Transfer (https://wetransfer.com/).
- There should be no reference to your name or your institution on the essay itself.
- The completed Application Form SHNH-Stearn-Student-Essay-Prize-Application-Form-2023 and proof of student status should also be attached.
- Applicants will be notified of the results when the judges have reached their decision.