2021 McElheny Award Now Accepting Submissions The award will recognize one outstanding work of local or regional science journalism with a $5,000 prize.

The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT is pleased to announce that we are now accepting submissions for the 2021 Victor K. McElheny Award for local and regional science journalism. The award will recognize one outstanding work of journalism — print, digital, or broadcast — with a $5,000 prize. Submissions will be accepted up until 11:59 p.m. EST, January 31, 2021.

The McElheny Award was established to honor outstanding coverage of science, public-health, technology, and environmental issues at the local or regional level. Entries may be standalone works or series, and must have been published during the 2020 calendar year. Emphasis will be put on investigative, community-service, and compelling narrative journalism that breaks new ground and makes a difference. There is no entry fee.

For more information about the McElheny Award, including previous winners, see the contest description page. To review eligibility requirements and begin a submission, see the  submission guidelines. For other questions, please contact us at mcelhenyaward@mit.edu.

The Victor K. McElheny award is made possible by the generous support of Victor K. McElheny, the founder of the Knight Science Journalism Program, his wife, Ruth McElheny, and the Rita Allen Foundation.