Deadline: 15 June 2012
STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION OVERVIEW
The New Cosmic Frontiers International Science Essay Competition On the Nature of our Universe and its Habitats is open to high school and college students. Its purpose is to inspire students to consider careers in science and to nurture their enthusiasm for the subject, and to engage young minds in creative, intellectual activities essential in scientific endeavors.
Winners will be awarded significant monetary prizes to support their education and given an extraordinary opportunity to meet today’s world-renowned scientists and scholars at a conference and award ceremony, held in Philadelphia, on October 12-13, 2012. The program will include presentations by winners of the New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology Research Grant Program and the New Cosmic Frontiers Student Essay Competition; a banquet; a public event lecture related to the Big Questions; and panel of Templeton Prize winners and other original thinkers discussing the future of the Big Questions.
PRIZES
The top three essays in each category will be awarded significant prizes recognizing excellence, originality and creativity. The winners are encouraged to use the prize money for the purpose of furthering their career in science.
Category 1: High School Students or Equivalent
- First Prize – The top essay will be chosen for a $25,000 cash prize.
- Second Prizes – The next two essays will be chosen for a $10,000 cash prize each.
- Third Prizes – The next five essays will be chosen for a $5,000 cash prize each.
Category 2: College Students
- First Prize – The top essay will be chosen for a $50,000 cash prize.
- Second Prizes – The next two essays will be chosen for a $25,000 cash prize each.
- Third Prizes – The next five essays will be chosen for a $10,000 cash prize each.
In addition, up to 10 honorable mentions of $3,000 each will be awarded in either category.
The Essay Competition Invitation, containing complete information about the program, is available here. Essays should be submitted using the online templates available on this website.
The essay contest has been organized in conjunction with the New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology - An International Grant Competition, a research grant program that aims to advance our understandings in fundamental areas of astronomy and cosmology, which overlap with the following Big Questions.
Notification of Awards: September 2012
Awards ceremony, Philadelphia, PA, USA, October 12-13, 2012
CATEGORY 1: ESSAY THEME FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Big Question IV
Are we alone in the Universe? Or, are there other life and intelligence beyond the solar system?
The recent, rapid advances in technologies that allow the detection of exo-planets in the “life zone” and potential signatures of life and intelligence in the universe raise hope that we are getting very close to the stage to be able to answer the age old question: “Are we alone in the universe?” Discovering life and intelligent beings outside our solar system will be among the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.
Students are encouraged to choose some aspects of this question, from which they may generate more focused essays. The following sub-questions are provided as exemplary questions. Applicants may choose their own research questions provided that such questions are directly or significantly relevant to the above Big Question.
Exemplary sub-questions:
- What are the signatures of the existence of life and intelligence in the universe? How may we detect them?
- Would the fine-tunings required for life in the universe also necessarily require that life be rare?
- To what degree are such other beings likely to be similar to humans? Are there features in nature which could limit the level of intelligence or the differences we may expect?
- How important is it for mankind to answer this Big Question and why?
- What will the implications be of the answer “yes” or “no” to this Big Question?
- Does our universe have features that limit the level of intelligence and/or the differences we may expect from them? What kinds of behaviour might we expect from them, if we ever meet them? Should we expect that they have learned how best to live with other beings as they must have survived their own conflicts long enough? What are the possibilities?
- Are there advanced intelligent beings out there in the universe that are not biological or are beyond biological (post-biological)? If so, what would be the signatures of the existence of such intelligence?
- Life in Space: Astrobiology for Everyone by Lucas John Mix
- Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets and Life Beyond Our Solar System by Ray Jayawardhana
- Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life by Paul Davies
- Intelligent Life in the Universe: Principles and Requirements behind Its Emergence by Peter Ulmschneider
CATEGORY 2: ESSAY THEME FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Big Question III
What is the origin of complexity in the universe?
We are living in a wonderfully complex world. According to the known astronomical and cosmological theories, our universe has become more and more “complex” and produced more and more interesting phenomena in it. How did this happen? What were the key stages? What are the prerequisites for such emergent complexity? For instance, is the “Past Hypothesis” (the idea that the universe had the initial low entropy state) true? Through the process of becoming more and more complex, the universe generated conscious observers who contemplate the very meaning of existence of the universe as well as their own and ask the question: “Why are we here?” What are the origins of this amazing complexity in the universe? What are the origins and conditions of continuing complexity in the universe?
Students are encouraged to choose some aspects of this question, from which they may generate more focused essays. The following sub-questions are provided as exemplary questions. Applicants may choose their own research questions Ïprovided that such questions are directly or significantly relevant to the above Big Question.
Exemplary sub-questions:
- What are the conditions for the universe to evolve to a high degree of complexity?
- What are the key stages of increasing complexity in the universe? How do they come about?
- Will the complexity of the universe continue to increase? If so, how long?
- Or, are there any theoretical limits to the complexity of the universe?
Entrants may consider the following suggested readings for inspiration:
- Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop
- Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe by Martin Rees
- At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity by Stuart Kauffman
- The Anthropic Cosmological Principle by John Barrow & Frank Tipler
- Intelligent Life in the Universe: Principles and Requirements behind Its Emergence by Peter Ulmschneider
Download the complete guidelines here >>
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For inquiries: bigquestions@oddjob.uchicago.edu
For submissions: submit online here
Website: http://www.newfrontiersinastronomy.org/