Are you an early-career statistician or data scientist with a talent for telling data-driven stories in an entertaining and thought-provoking way? If so, we invite you to enter the 2023 Statistical Excellence Award for Early Career Writing.
Jointly organized by Significance and the Young Statisticians Section of the Royal Statistical Society, the competition forms part of the RSS Statistical Excellence Awards program.
Early career means students or anyone within the first 10 years of their statistical career. Whether studying, recently graduated, or already working, this competition is open to you.
No topic is out of bounds. Last year’s winning article, by Lee Kennedy-Shaffer, explained how statistics can help us evaluate rule changes in baseball. The previous year, Conner Jackson wrote about his investigation into whether a colleague’s pet tortoise really could predict the weather. Over the years, we’ve honored articles about the role of statistics in organ transplant medicine, World War II bombing raids, the reduction of food waste, and millennials’ political views. Your article could be based on your work or that of others.
“
To stand the best chance of winning, your article must demonstrate the power statistics has to challenge myths, shape decisions, and explain the world around us.
To stand the best chance of winning, your article must demonstrate the power statistics has to challenge myths, shape decisions, and explain the world around us.
Significance is published for a broad audience of readers, with varying levels of statistical expertise. This means technical terms and mathematics should be kept to a minimum and explained clearly when used. The tone should be engaging and easy to read—think magazine, rather than academic journal.
Entries are judged by a panel made up of the Significance editorial team and editorial board members. Winners, finalists, and entrants from previous years of the competition are not excluded from participating in this year’s competition.
Winners and runners-up will be announced at the RSS Statistical Excellence Awards in the summer and invited to present their articles at the 2023 RSS Conference in Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK (September 4–7). The winning article will be published in Significance. Runner-up articles may be published on the Significance website or in Significance magazine at the editor’s discretion.
View details and winning articles from previous years.