From the furthest reaches of the universe to the microscopic world of our genes, science offers writers the kind of scope other subjects simply can’t match. Good writing about science can be moving, funny, exhilarating or poetic, but it will always be honest and rigorous about the research that underlies it.

To recognise the best of the best, UNSW Press has established an annual prize for the best short non-fiction piece on science written for a general audience. The Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing is named in honour of Australia’s first Nobel Laureates William Henry Bragg and his son William Lawrence Bragg and is supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

First prize is $7000. Two runners-up will each receive a prize of $1500.

Winning entries and the shortlist will be included in NewSouth’s anthology, The Best Australian Science Writing 2014, out in November. 

2014 SHORTLIST

Frank Bowden Eleven grams of trouble (Inside Story)

Jo Chandler TB and me: A medical souvenir (The Global Mail)

Peter Meredith Weathering the storm (Australian Geographic)

James Mitchell Crow Is there room for organics?(Cosmos)

Stephen Pincock The quantum spinmeister: Professor Andrea Morello (Cosmos)

Winners for 2014 will be announced on November 6.