The Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) awards, AKA the ‘Oscars of science journalism’, opened for entry at 09:00 on January 1, 2026. Running for over 50 years, the ABSW awards reward bravery, flair and independence in science journalism, setting standards of excellence across eleven categories.
In 2026 winners included Clive Cookson of the Financial Times, Oliver Morton of the Economist and Victoria Gill of the BBC. Maeve Cullinan, Global Health Security reporter, The Daily Telegraph and winner of the Newcomer of the Year Award 2025 said:
It feels like such a privilege to win an ABSW Award. It's great to be in such amazing company, with all the people who've previously won this award and all the other winners.
Categories open to entry in 2026
All formats
- News Item of the Year
- News Analysis of the Year
- Steve Connor Award for Investigative Journalism
- Research Policy or Funding Story of the Year
- Newcomer of the Year - supported by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
- The Dr Katharine Giles Award for best new academic voice - supported by the Dr Katharine Giles Fund
Print/Online only
- Feature of the Year: general audience
- Feature of the Year: specialist audience
- Opinion Piece/Editorial of the Year
Format specific awards
- The Royal Society Audio Award - supported by The Royal Society
- Video of the Year
The ABSW’s premier award - the Lifetime Achievement Award – is chosen by ABSW members. It was last awarded in 2025 to Clive Cookson Financial Times Senior Science Writer and formerly Financial Times Science Editor. In his nominating statement ABSW Chair Andy Extance said:
Through his lifelong career in science journalism Clive has made an immeasurable contribution to excellence in the field and demonstrates the exact qualities and achievements that the ABSW wishes to acknowledge through its lifetime achievement award.
Previous lifetime achievement award winners include Sir David Attenborough and Sir Philip Campbell.
The ABSW awards remain open to entry throughout January 2026 with finalists announced in May. Winners are announced at the annual awards ceremony in July - the highlight of the science journalism calendar. Winners receive £500, a certificate and the much coveted ‘Award winning science journalist’ mug.
Enter now:
https://www.absw.org.uk/pages/absw-awards-2026-open-to-entry-January-2026
Entry is free for members of the ABSW and the Irish Science and Technology Journalists Association. For non-members there is a fee of £55 per entry.
The Awards are only possible due to the generous support of our award partners The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, The Dr Katharine Giles Fund, The Royal Society and AlphaGalileo, our media partner.
Why not join them in supporting excellence science and technology journalism? Find out more:
https://www.absw.org.uk/pages/with-thanks-to-our-2026-award-partners
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