How Could Science be Different?

Read the Winning Essays Here

This essay competition is now closed. Read the Winning Essays Here

Competition Timeline

February 14, 2023, Contest Announced

February 28, 2023, Open to Submissions

Extended deadline! May 3, 2023, at 10 AM US EDT, Submissions Closed

Extended deadline! until June 8, 2023, Competition Rating Period

May 25, 2023, to July 11, 2023, Competition Judges Evaluation Period

By July 12, 2023, Finalists Announced; Names Revealed

Categories of Competition Participants

Competition Entrant: Anyone entering the Competition by submitting an essay via our webform on Submittable.com.

Essay Author: All Competition Entrants who are eligible to participate in the competition. Essay Authors are those with essays posted in the competition. All Essay Authors will be anonymous, with names and bios withheld until the winners are announced.

FQxI Members: Scientists and outreach specialists. You can see more information about who is a Member here.

Expert Reader: A group of 5 or more people, selected by FQxI, who will read and rate all essays. This review will happen during the general voting period to ensure all essays are read and FQxI is provided a fair review of each.

Competition Evaluator: This includes Essay Authors, FQxI Members, and Expert Readers. These three groups can rate essays on a scale of 1 to 10 during the general voting period ending May 10, 2023.

Public Reader: Anyone who is not a Competition Evaluator. Public Readers can rate essays by 'liking' them and participate in discussions in the forums.

Essay Author Finalist: The Essay Authors who the Expert Judge panel will evaluate. (Includes Essay Authors with the top Competition Evaluator scores and a few Expert Readers' recommendations. But these groups are only eligible if they have, at minimum, rated the three essays assigned to them upon confirmation of their eligibility.

Expert Judge: This panel evaluates the finalists starting May 11, 2023, after the general voting period ends. Their evaluations are based on the criteria shared on this page. Their decisions are final.

Does FQxI have a preferred philosophical or scientific agenda?

No. We are equally interested in all relevant and interesting essays within the FQxI purview.

Can researchers from outside the U.S. apply?

Yes, entries will be welcomed from any country. However, they must be written in English.

My colleague(s) and I would like to apply as co-authors. Can we do this?

Yes. Please note the following rules for co-authors:

Someone has to be the main contact for the essay. The person who submits the essay via the webform will be considered the main contact. We will only send emails to this one person. It is this person’s responsibility to share this information with the co-authors.
Combined bios of the authors cannot exceed 100 words.
You can only submit one essay per person. If you co-author an essay, you cannot submit another essay under your name, or submit another essay with a different group of co-authors.

Can I submit multiple essays?

No, only one entry per person per Competition is permitted.

How and when do I apply?

Entries will be accepted via the Submittable webform from February 27, 2023, to April 19, 2020 (until 10:00 AM Eastern Time).

You will need to create a Submittable account if you don't already have one. This account is separate from your FQxI account.

When you enter is up to you, but keep in mind that earlier entries will enable more time for public reading and discussion, and also establish priority in print for novel ideas. On the other hand, later entries provide more time to write and allow authors to adjust their essays in response to earlier ones.

What if I am unable to submit my essay electronically?

Only entries submitted through the Submittable webform. Please plan to submit your essay before the deadline. We cannot respond to last-minute requests for help on the last day of the competition. Plan ahead!

Can I save my online application?

You can save a draft application on Submittable webform and return to it later. Here are directions on how to do so from Submittable.

Once you submit your application on Submittable, you cannot go back and edit it anymore.

I didn't receive a confirmation email after submitting my essay. Did FQxI receive my entry?

If you don't receive an email immediately from Submittable after submitting your essay, please check your spam filter. If it's not there, then please contact FQxI.

I submitted an essay application and received a confirmation email, but my essay wasn't posted. What happened?

Immediately after an essay application is submitted, the applicant will receive a confirmation of receipt email from Submittable. The essay will be reviewed for rule compliance first. If the essay is approved, it will be posted automatically within 10 business days. If 10 business days have passed since you received your confirmation email and your essay is still not posted, please contact FQxI, with your inquiry. If you are among the first to submit your essay, please note that we will not post any until there are ~10 eligible essays submitted.

How will proposals be judged?

The essays will be judged according to the Evaluation Criteria (Is the essay relevant to the theme, interesting, and accessible) on the Competition Rules page.

Can you give me any guidance on my essay?

No— the Essay Competition rules above will be the sole material provided to entrants, and the basis upon which essays will be judged.

Can I also post my essay elsewhere on the internet, like the Arxiv or a personal blog?

No problem, so long as this is done once the competition is completed to preserve the anonymity of authors. If the essay wins a prize, please consult with FQxI.

What prizes will be awarded?

Up to US$40,000 will be awarded in this Essay Competition, following the list given in Section III of the Competition rules. The awards will be announced and distributed per the procedure described in Section IV of the Competition rules, on the basis of the criteria elaborated in Section II. In addition, all First and Second Prize Winners will receive a nomination for FQxI Membership, if the applicant is not already a Member. (Please note that Member nomination does not guarantee Membership; all nominees will be reviewed.)

What are the qualifications for a Competition entrant?

There are no formal qualifications; however, we do ask for rigorous and well thought out entries and reserve the right to decline entry of essays not satisfying minimal criteria of relevance and/or quality. Additionally, each applicant must provide a brief biography with their entry. Judges, as well as Public and Community evaluators, are free to consider or ignore this information.

Please reference the Other Technicalities and Legalities section of the Competition Rules page.

Can entrants cheat or "game" the voting system?

FQxI expects community evaluators to vote based solely on the quality of the essay. Voting collusion or bartering, mass down-voting, and other such forms of "voter fraud" will not be tolerated, and participants in such will have (all) their votes discarded or in extreme cases their essays disqualified. Entrants should alert FQxI with information if they witness any of these activities.

Entrants are also not allowed to solicit votes through mass forum commenting or emailing (i.e. spamming other contestants). FQxI views such behavior as a form of attempted voting collusion or bartering. This is true even if the message simply asks for a “fair vote” and does not explicitly promise return voting. Repetitive, cut-and-paste comments that do not attempt to engage the content of their forum will be marked as spam and deleted.

As a rule, all forum commenting should follow FQxI’s forum guidelines for appropriate content. Please contact FQxI if you are unsure about the content of a post you are planning or that you find in the forums.