Undergraduate competition

Competition for Undergraduates with Prizes!

Deadline extended to 11 January 2016.

Do you ever read about how “New research suggests…”, and wonder if that’s really true?

As a student, you’ll be developing a whole range of skills to interrogate sources of new information. We want you to put those skills to use in our new competition, Rewrite the Headlines.

To enter, you will take a media story discussing some new research, and write a blog showing how accurately the media has represented the study (or not). Maybe the media article has slightly exaggerated the claims of the study. Or maybe the media have given a fair account of the study, but there were flaws in the methods used by the researchers. These are just a couple of the things you might want to consider.

All entries will be judged by an expert panel, and there will be prizes for the best entries. The top prize is a new Microsoft Surface Pro 4. The winner and runners-up will also see their blogs appearing as part of a special series on our website, Research the Headlines.

To take part, you need to be an undergraduate at a Scottish University. Whatever discipline you are studying, you can have a crack at assessing how well the media cover research stories – and rewrite one!

All the information you need to take part can be found in our guide Rewrite the Headlines – Undergraduate competition 2015.

If you have any questions, you can email us.

Don’t forget, we want you to consider research broadly, so no matter your area, this competition is for you. And remember, it’s not just about pointing out when a journalist might get something wrong…sometimes it is the research that may have flaws. We look forward to reading your entries.

All entries must be received by the closing date 11 January 2016.

You can follow us on Twitter @ResTheHeadlines, and find us on Facebook. If you’re connecting via social media, don’t forget to use #RewriteTheHeadlines.

For more information on Rewrite The Headlines, go to our competition Terms and Conditions. The Rewrite the Headlines guide for undergraduates can be found here.

The Prizes

All entries received by the closing date will be judged by our expert panel. The top prize is a new Microsoft Surface Pro 4. The winner will also be invited to the awards ceremony in January 2016, and their winning blog will appear on the Research the Headlines website.

There will be runner-up prizes in a range of specific subjects, including the best Social Policy and Social Science entries, for example. Each subject winner will see their blog appear on the Research the Headlines website, be invited to the awards ceremony, and receive a prize donated by one of our generous supporters, which include Fire tablets, research training courses or books in their subject area.

These prizes are generously sponsored by the School of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde, the Social Research Association, the Scottish History Society, and Palgrave Macmillan.

Keep checking our competition pages for more prize announcements!