AWSAR 2018 - Application For Ph.D Scholars, Post Doctorate Fellows

AWSAR stands for Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research. AWSAR Scheme has been coordinated by Vigyan Prasar which is an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology (DST). AWSAR has been initiated to promote popular science writing through newspapers, magazines, blogs, social media, etc. by young PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows during their higher studies and research pursuits. All the PhD Scholars and Post-Doctoral fellows will have to write a minimum of one popular science article during their tenure on the same topic on which they have been researching.

AWSAR scheme has been brought to familiarise the common population of the country with the latest research work that is being carried out by the PhD Scholars and Post-Doctorate Fellows. Moreover, it will also make common people realize the importance and depth of the research done by such scholars and fellows.

AWSAR Dates 2018

Given below are the AWSAR dates 2018 to keep in mind

AWSAR Cash Prize amount for the first rank is Rs. 1 lakh. Along with that, the Runner-ups will also be given the cash prize. Given below is a table describing the prize distribution system in AWSAR

Cash Prize For PhD Researchers

Cash Prize For Post Doctorate Fellows

These awards will be distributed on 28 February at National Science Day, every year. All the winners will be given a chance to attend Science Film Training Workshop organized by Vigyan Prasar.

Candidates wanting to participate under AWSAR scheme do not have to fill up any application form and will only have to submit their story through the link given below. The link to upload the stories will be available from 15 August 2018 till 30 September 2018. All the articles shall be submitted through an online portal. A hard copy of the article can also be submitted to the office for record purpose.

The selection criteria under AWSAR Scheme through which the winner is selected has been listed below

• The accuracy, insightfulness, clarity and resourcefulness will be the basis of judgement for all the entries.
• The entries should convincingly be able to show the importance of the Research, the entry should also be able to present the story of the writer’s research in an easy way such that people with no knowledge of the research can also understand it.
• A group of scientists and science writers selected by the Department of Science and Technology will be judging the entries.

AWSAR Scheme Guidelines

Given below are the guidelines that are to be followed while submitting an article for AWSAR

• Preference will be given to applicants having published papers of their research work.
• The article submitted under AWSAR scheme should describe the research in such a language and manner so that it can be easily understood by common people. The participants are free to use an infographic provided it helps in a better and easy understanding of the topic being discussed.

AWSAR exclusive article

• Only the articles that are original and written only for AWSAR shall be considered.
• A declaration stating that the article is original and has not been published elsewhere should be there in the submitted article.
• The theme and title of the story should be mentioned along with the name, affiliation and contacts details of the participant in the submitted article.
• Any participant found using a copied content under AWSAR scheme shall be disqualified and will not participate in the future.

Format of the article submitted for AWSAR
The article should be of 1000-1500 word, A4 size with 25cm margin on all sides, single column, Times New Roman Font, font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing and should be written in a .doc or .docx format.