The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications program.
- UCSC Contact: Samantha Forde | forde@ucsc.edu
- Funder: Schmidt Sciences
- Opportunity: National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications
- Deadline: April 3, 2026
Overview
The National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications encourages high-quality science communication to build a robust community of science communicators, science journalists, and research scientists as they continue to demystify complex issues related to science, engineering, and health effectively, inspiring wonder and curiosity about issues that impact daily life and planetary well-being.
The awards will be given to individuals who have developed creative, original work published or released in 2025 that explores issues or advances in science, engineering, or medicine for the general public. Eligibility in the following subcategories is determined by the individual’s professional status in 2025.
Submission Categories and Subcategories
- Research Scientists
- Graduate student researchers, early-career researchers, later-career researchers
- Science Journalists
- Local/regional journalists, early-career journalists, and freelance journalists
- Science Communicators
- Independent communicators and organizational communicators
Application Components
Provide one to three example(s) that clearly support the subcategory to which you are applying, and:
- communicate scientific, engineering, or medical concepts to non-technical audiences
- demonstrate clarity, creativity, originality, and accuracy
- address issues or advances in science, engineering, or medicine
- cover topics that have an impact on society
- are presented in a way that a public audience can understand
- was published or released in 2025
Please see a list of FAQs.
Award Amount: 24 awards totaling $640,000 (16 $20,000 prizes and 8 $400,000 prizes)
Eligibility:
- Awards for individuals; applicants have an opportunity to articulate the contributions of their collaborators.
- If you are applying to the Research Scientist: Graduate Student Subcategory, work examples must have been published or released in 2025 and produced while you had graduate student status.
See here for a list of previous award winners.
Timeline
- April 3, 2026 (8:59 PM PT) Submissions due
- October 2026 Winners Announced
- November 2026 Winner Workshop and Recognition Event in Washington, DC
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). Please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. For support developing your proposal, please send a request to the Office of Research Development resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu).
Call sent: March 4, 2026
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.