ABSW Awards 2023: The Winners

UK government’s Covid advisers enduring ‘tidal waves of abuse’, The Guardian

‘This looks like the real deal’: are we inching closer to a treatment for Alzheimer’s? The Guardian

Life will find a way: could scientists make Jurassic Park a reality? The Guardian

Judges Quote: A real powerhouse, telling important stories to a very wide audience, including uncovering the abuse scientists have faced over their COVID-19 roles.

The winner of this award is automatically entered into the European Science Journalist of the Year award as the British entrant

With thanks to The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry who support this award.

Azadeh Emadi, University of Glasgow, The magic of touch: how deafblind people taught us to ‘see’ the world differently during COVID, Insights - The Conversation

Judges Quote: An accomplished piece on a deeply multi-disciplinary topic. Deploying multiple techniques, deftly woven together, Emadi draws the reader in and humanises her own research on how the deafblind community experienced the pandemic.

With thanks to the Dr Katharine Giles Fund that supports this award. 

Katy Evans, Managing Editor, IFLScience.com

When Does A Theory Become A Fact? CURIOUS ISSUE 3 (October 2022)

What Will "Living With COVID" Look Like, And Are We There Yet? www.iflscience.com

Is It Possible To Change Your Personality? www.iflscience.com

Why Archaeologists Are Not Looking For Atlantis, CURIOUS ISSUE 2 (September 2022)

How Citizen Science Is Changing The World, www.iflscience.com

Judges Quote: An outstanding year in which Katy Evans showed both strategic vision and the mettle to bring the vision into reality. Along the way she showed off many of the skills an editor needs to be successful, effectively combining editorial, budgetary, staffing and format development.

Charlotte Jee, Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready? MIT Technology Review

Judges Quote: This accessible and thought-provoking feature was written before the current excitement over programs such as ChatGPT. It discussed how AI could influence our personal lives -- a topic of huge public interest.

Dawn Connelly, ‘My whole world changed’: the repulsive smells that linger for months post COVID, The Pharmaceutical Journal

Judges Quote: A beautifully written tale. We have bizarre signs and symptoms, human tragedy, what we know and don’t know about the neuroscience, and news for sufferers and pharmacists.

Simar Bajaj, Freelance

Pig to human heart transplants are the future. Are we ready for it? The Guardian

This Follicle-Hacking Drug Could One Day Treat Baldness, WIRED UK

Voting is significant determinant of health, US medical association declares, The Guardian

Judges Quote: Exceptional reporting of important and complex scientific issues, such as xenotransplantation, which has already resulted in international recognition.

With thanks to the Quadram Institute who support this award.

Jessica Hamzelou, A battle is raging over long covid in children, MIT Technology Review

Judges Quote: A thorough, even-handed exploration of what long Covid looks like in children.

Jo Marchant, First known map of night sky found hidden in Medieval parchment, Nature

Judges Quote: A memorable exclusive: Via great story telling and factful reporting it showed why this was important news.

Anjana Ahuja, Science should beware being drawn into the asylum seeker debate, Financial Times

Judges Quote: Anjana Ahuja marshals the evidence that biological age assessments are scientifically flawed and that their use in deportation cases only adds more uncertainty to decisions that are, at best, ambiguous.

Geoff Marsh (pictured right) & Noah Baker, Recreating the lost sounds of spring, Nature.com

Judges Quote: The perfect story for creative use of sound effects and they were well-chosen and crafted without being excessive. Technical quality, writing and presentation were superb. A delight to listen to.

Andrew Silver, Polar research: Frozen out, Research Europe

Judges Quote: A really good piece written on an important topic. The reporting is challenging, executed well, and clearly written.

Leana Hosea, Rachel Salvidge, Emma Campbell, Alasdair Cross, & Dimitri Houtart, Costing the Earth: Britain’s Dark Waters, BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds

Judges Quote: The story-telling structure kept the listener’s attention throughout, through its variety of locations, powerful examples, eloquent first-hand testimony and clear, persuasive sync from experts.

With thanks to the Royal Society who support this award.

Amanda Ruggeri, Male postnatal depression: Why men struggle in silence, BBC Worklife

Judges Quote: The fascinating account of a (male) paediatrician with postnatal depression, exploring how even those who should be most familiar with this little-known condition can remain undiagnosed.

Emma Howard, & Crispin Dowler, Satellites reveal widespread burning on England’s protected peatlands, despite government ban, Unearthed. Additional credits: Data processing by Anne Harris, Edikan Umoh and Olufadeke Banjo. Mapping platform created by Alexey Drozdovskiy. Video production by Ali Deacon.

Judges Quote: Very strong investigation that involved extensive research and analysis written in a digestible way. It was great to see the wide-ranging real world impact of the team's work, including the launching of a government investigation into the issue.

Melissa Hogenboom, & Pierangelo Pirak, Split at Birth: Twins Divided, BBC TV News, iPlayer & BBC Reel

Judges Quote: A powerful documentary about twin separation studies, featuring excellent storytelling and an engaging visual style. The filmmakers got very good access to compelling interviewees, highlighting the special connection that can exist between twins and the impact that these troubling experiments had on the people involved.