The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative – a program of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, with the support of the W.M. Keck Foundation – will award four $20,000 prizes in 2010 to individuals or teams (up to four individuals associated with the creation of the work being nominated) who have developed creative, original works that address issues and advances in science, engineering and/or medicine for the general public. Nominations are accepted in four categories: Book; Magazine/Newspaper; Film/Radio/TV; and Online. The winners will be honored sometime fall 2010 and are expected to attend the awards ceremony in person.

Eligibility
To be considered for a 2010 National Academies Communication Award, the work should:

• be accessible and appeal to a broad, public audience;
• demonstrate clarity, creativity, originality, and accuracy;
• address issues and/or advances in science, engineering, and/or medicine;
• cover topics that have an impact on society; and have been published, broadcast, or released in 2009, in the United States and in English.

Nomination Form 
Nominations must be submitted on the online nomination form, which will be available until 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time on April 14, 2010; copies of the nominated work must be submitted as described for each category.  Self nominations are permitted; there is no nomination fee.  Please submit a nomination to the category that most closely describes the work(s) being nominated.

Books Category
Books published in the U.S. in 2009 will be considered.  Please submit two copies of the book.  The publisher and year of publication must be printed on the book.  Advanced publication dates must be verified by the publisher. 

Newspaper/Magazine
Works in this category must be published in the U.S. in 2009, and may compromise a single article, or up to as many as four articles that are unrelated or that constitute a formal series.  Please submit three original copies of each article clearly showing the byline and the name and date of the publication and a signed copyright release that authroizes the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative to reproduce the article for review purposes.  If you are not able to provide copyright release, please send an additional 20 copies of the article(s), or a PDF file of the article(s).

TV/Radio/Film
Submissions may include a single story or movie; a series; or as many as six brief, unrelated stories that aired on a U.S. station or were released in theaters or on DVD in 2009.  Please submit three CDs or DVDs labeled with the nominee's name(s), the titles of stories included on the DVD or CD, and the original airdate (with the name of the U.S. station and program on which the stories aired) or release date.  These must be submitted in protective cases and include a signed copyright release that authorizes the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative to reproduce the CD or DVD for review purposes.  Submission of copies of the program transcript are also encouraged.  If you are not able to provide copyright release, then please submit an additional 20 copies of the CD or DVD.

Online
Works created specifically for the Web, which were posted in English online in 2009, will be considered.  Entries may include as many as six online articles, hypertext documents, podcasts, commentaries, etc., or any combination thereof.  Preference will be given to nominations that make the best use of the medium, including multi-media presentations that incorporate a combination of videos, blog entries, interactive features, and/or other capabilities unique to this communication vehicle.  Include links to the unique URLs for each work(s) that will be active through October 1, 2010.