My AAAS Mass Media Fellowship Application Guide
If you’re reading this, you may be considering applying for the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship. I’m here to convince you to apply (as long as you satisfy the requirements), guide your application through its various stages, and share my own 2022 application for your reference.
The Mass Media Fellowship starts with a short but intense science journalism training for STEM students (primarily graduate students, but it’s also open to undergraduates and postdocs) held at the AAAS office in D.C., before putting them straight into the shoes of professional science reporters in various media outlets across the US, consisting of science magazines, regional and national newspapers, and multimedia platforms. Over the subsequent period of 10 weeks, the level of exposure fellows get (unique to each site) are rare to attain for anyone with a science background.
If your mind’s already made up (as it should be), here are my own experiences in applying for this fellowship. Yes, experiences in plural, because I applied thrice before earning my coveted spot. The competitiveness of this program is commensurate with the degree of training it offers, and there is indeed a very large pool of STEM students across North America with diverse backgrounds seeking it.
My own cohort had graduate veterans like me eager to see the end of the PhD tunnel, mixed with folks just a year or two into their programs, and even an undergraduate sophomore. Some of us had little to no prior media experience, while others were hosting science podcasts, had a number of media clips and even authored childens’ science books. We represented all fields of science, and had varying expectations and career plans coming into the program.
This is all to say, there is no set springboard to ensure your chances of becoming a fellow. And having been on the (un)receiving end twice, not making it undeniably hurts. But each of those times, I never once thought “I’m not gonna put myself through this again” - because each application cycle taught me a little bit more about myself, encouraged me to streamline my science communication activities in grad school, and made me practice writing news articles that got peer-edited multiple times.
On the downside, one does not receive any specific feedback on their application, which is understandable given the volume of applicants each year. But for anyone re-applying the simple act of reading through your app’s content after several months magically reveals numerous deficiencies. I hope reading through my own application materials and writing samples, posted verbatim below, can help you assess what works and what doesn’t. Any shortcomings here would be more than overcome by referring to two other former fellows’ applications (just like I did last year): Nick Young (2021, The Wichita Eagle) here, and Anna Funk (2018, Discover Magazine) here.
The application itself was tweaked slightly in the 2022 cycle and I believe it has retained the same format this year. It consists of three main parts: (i) A questionnaire probing your motivation, skills and experience in science communication, (ii) Two mandatory writing samples input as plain text, and (iii) A 5-page maximum CV uploaded as a PDF. Plus, there is an optional part where you may upload up to four additional supporting materials - which may be more writing samples, examples of any audio/visual scicomm multimedia projects, or really anything uploadable that you think is worth.
The important change is that any recommendation letters are now included as a part of these optional “additional supporting materials”, whereas previously, two letters were mandatory. This, I think is a welcome change since it is hard to have scicomm mentors you’ve worked with for long enough in graduate school, while some academic advisors may not be fully supportive of this fellowship (ugh!). I was lucky enough to have an editor I’d worked with on a previous remote internship to write me a letter, and if you’ve got supportive advisors, do seek their assistance. But really one of the benefits of the AAASMMF is that you will receive good mentorship for your career beyond.
Starting with the writing samples, one of the two mandatory samples is expected to be written in a journalistic style, covering one recent (~6 months before the app deadline) research article. This is your chance to show that you know the basics of reporting news and can piece together elements of a story that can hook your audience and retain their attention - all within 750 words. To be quite honest, this is rather generous, and you certainly don’t need to play the shuffleboard towards this limit (as I did in my first attempts). Turns out, one of the best skills you can have as a science reporter is to know what to leave out! For this piece, it is also incredibly valuable if you can include quotes from the authors of the research itself as well as independent experts. If you’re sweating on time, try to include at least the former, so contact the authors as soon as you select which paper you want to cover! Here is the news sample I wrote for my application, titled “Astronomers Unveil a Magnetic Map of the Silent Sun”.
The other writing sample is the general writing sample. True to its name, it’s got more room (1000 words) for you to showcase your writing style without necessarily worrying about the usual elements of science news storytelling. Do you have a favorite blog piece? A feature-style article with humor/socio-political/historical themes? Anything’s game. Some folks use this as an opportunity to include yet another news piece, which is also a good idea. My own piece was a blog-style story I wrote in 2018 (thanks to the Comscicon-AIP write-a-thon) about my research for the Scientific American observations blog. You can read my General Sample here: “Mind the Mass Gap”.
(For those re-applying: you may re-use your general writing sample, though writing something fresh is always encouraged. I used this same piece in my 2019 app, followed by a different one in 2020, before deciding that the previous one worked better for last year’s application).
To answer an FAQ, neither of the above pieces need to be published anywhere prior to your application (or after, as a matter of fact).
The CV section for me was a chance to create my first, separate “Science Communication” CV with all my favorite parts of grad school actually going to the top. A weirdly specific CV tip: if you’re a member of any professional science societies, especially those that sponsor fellows annually such as the American Physical Society (APS), list them down in your CV. Here is the CV I included with my application.
Finally, coming to the questionnaire, this is the space for you to put your best self forward but in a concise way. The questions ask you to explain your research in simple terms, showcase your background in science communication, describe your motivation to undertake this fellowship and talk about any other science outreach activities you’re involved with in grad school. My tips in writing your responses are to be as pointed and direct in every single thing you say, and talk about the specifics of your activities. Get your responses vetted by your peers to make sure you leave all fluff out: every sentence and paragraph should have a purpose. In general, show what you learned with every experience and how you’ve grown as a science communicator.
Here are my own responses to the 2022 application questionnaire:
Describe your previous research experience.
As an astrophysicist working for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), I am keen on listening to, rather observing the universe.
When the densest objects in the universe such as black holes and neutron stars collide in pairs, they emit tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves. LIGO detects these in the same frequencies as audible sound waves.
Often, incoming gravitational-wave signals are contaminated by glitches: noise bursts that frequently affect the detector for a variety of reasons, like wind, earthquakes, laser scattering, or even birds pecking at ice forming on the detector wall! The presence of a glitch on top of a signal distorts our estimation of the source’s sky position, preventing us from sending accurate alerts to astronomers to search for it. I developed an algorithm called NNETFIX: A Neural Network that fixes such glitch-affected data.
I am also investigating the ‘mass gap’: the dividing line between neutron stars and black holes lies in terms of their mass. The heaviest a neutron star can be is about three times the mass of the sun, while the lightest black holes we have detected weigh around five solar masses. Nothing has ever been observed between this range. I create computational models to simulate how objects in the mass gap can form, and whether LIGO may detect them in the future.
What in your background has prepared you for this fellowship? (Word limit: 250 words)
My career goal is to become a science journalist with an active role in public engagement.
Through conversations with a variety of people ranging from my family members to cab drivers and even literature professors, I have experienced a chasm between the world of science as I know it, and how people perceive it. This has particularly been brought into light by the spread of mis-and disinformation regarding issues like COVID-19 vaccines and Climate Change.
I want to be the person who acts as a liaison between academics and the public, channeling the fascinating research being carried out towards building trust and an understanding of the scientific process within society.
For me, science communication also releases an outlet for creativity that I cannot always find in the hours spent coding for my research. I love sprinkling tiny creative details that can transform everyday content into something that really resonates with the audience - the kind of details that make Pixar movies phenomenal. Throughout graduate school, I have enjoyed practicing science communication through various media, and each experience has made me rethink what I would like to do in the future.
Now that I have made up my mind, the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship presents the cream of opportunities that would directly train me for the career path I wish to seek.
Have you had previous media-related experiences? Please provide details. (Word limit: 250 words)
A previous journalism internship, attending and organizing numerous scicomm workshops, and success in competitive science communication has prepared me for this fellowship.
I first got into science communication through Famelab, an international competition organized by the British Council in 2017, which challenges participants to explain their research in just three minutes. In my winning presentation, I demonstrated how two neutron stars collide in a cosmic firework called a ‘Kilonova’, by spiraling a pair of balloons filled with confetti into each other. This also won me the chance to represent India at the Cheltenham Science Festival, UK. Famelab taught me how to filter out jargon and insert creativity into my science communication.
I emulated this success in 2021 by winning the similar 3-Minute Thesis competition at the University of Mississippi.
After joining graduate school, I obtained a formal introduction to science journalism through a summer internship with ‘India Bioscience’. I have also attended science communication conferences like the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) meeting, Comscicon-Atlanta, Comscicon AIP, and Comscicon-SciWri.
Last year, I was elected co-chair of the organizing committee for Comscicon-Atlanta ’21, where I relished the challenge of designing a virtual conference from scratch for fellow graduate students across the southeastern USA.
Through these experiences, I now know how to find newsworthy stories, how to pitch them, how embargoes work, how to interview researchers, and also understand the effective science news story structure consisting of the lede, the nutgraf, a quote-driven narrative, and the kicker.
How do you think the skills learned from the fellowship will impact your future career or academic plans? (Word limit: 250 words)
After graduate school, I wish to seek a career in science journalism or media production. While I have had some experience in writing journalistic articles, I still have a lot to learn. Like most things, the only way to get better at it is to write, and write more! But instead of rambling proses, science writing needs to be tended and trimmed. This fellowship would give me the opportunity to learn by working closely with a mentor - something I have lacked in the past.
Further, it would do so by making me step outside my flexible grad student routine for 10 weeks and putting me in a professional work environment. I want to get a taste of how the daily news cycle works, how to correspond with press offices, how to ask questions in a press conference, and how to research features covering complex and possibly controversial issues of national importance. This fellowship would improve my writing work rate, teach me how to schedule timely interviews, finish pieces within a deadline, among many other things which no doubt I am yet to appreciate.
Describe your participation in any science communication or outreach activities.
For the past two years, I have proudly hosted the Oxford Science Cafe, which features monthly public talks and conversations about science for the local community here in Oxford, MS. We invite speakers from the university as well as nearby colleges to share their science stories. We get people of all ages, from elementary school kids to octogenarians to enjoy a free pastry and digest the exciting science being shared.
After attending a podcasting session at Comscicon-Atlanta, I started a podcast called “Ssippin’ Science” to accompany the science cafe and increase our reach. As the pandemic unfolded and forced us to go virtual, the podcast was a great way for me to interview different scientists and keep doing outreach for the community, with episodes such as ‘Quarantine skies’ for stargazing from home. Ssippin’ Science is one of very few science podcasts produced in Mississippi, and I’m proud to see the number of local listeners grow gradually.
I step into the shoes of a planetarium narrator at the monthly Astronomy Open House at the University of Mississippi’s Kennon Observatory, to conduct stargazing sessions and showcase the planets and the Moon through a telescope. Astrophotography is a beloved pastime of mine, and another way to share the wonders of space with others on Instagram (handle: “the.sumeetsonian”).
Besides this, a much-loved outreach event at my department is the Spooky Physics night, where I dress up in nerdy costumes and display eye-catching physics demos to kids every Halloween night.
What other communication skills would you bring to the fellowship?
I can cover all kinds of science topics and write for diverse audiences:
My first science journalism internship was with ‘India Bioscience’, India’s leading life sciences communications website. Here, I wrote 3 news articles and 2 features covering a field of science completely different from my own research.
Over the past two years, I have been a regular author and editor for Astrobites, a student-run blog that publishes paper summaries of the latest astrophysics research. Here, I modify my writing for a different audience, namely STEM undergraduates seeking a flavor of what it is like to do research.
I have strong editing skills:
As a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration, I am an editor for their bi-annual ‘LIGO magazine’. Here, I commission science stories as well as those revolving around social and professional aspects of life in this big collaboration. I also help edit press releases and science summaries that accompany every major LIGO discovery and thereby know how these are different from a magazine or news article.
Finally, through my experience in podcasting, I am confident at interviewing scientists and also have a strong narrator voice.
I hope this helps with your AAAS mass media fellowship application, and I’m really excited for you to complete it! When done, don’t forget to treat yourself with your favorite hot/cold beverage. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me using the contact form at the bottom. All the best! :)