Call for Applications: Science Communication Challenge (aka The Comic Book Challenge)
Issue Date:  Aug. 2, 2019
Letter of Intent Due Date:  Sept. 2, 2019

The UK Center for Clinical & Translational Science is now accepting applications for our first-ever Science Communication Challenge!

Disseminating experimental results and data to community members and non-scientists is always a challenge.  A new trend in science dissemination utilizes illustrations, such as comic books, where the experiment becomes a scene and target molecules become villains or heroes. With that concept in mind, we introduce our first Comic Book Challenge. Don’t worry about artistic talent—we’ve got that covered.  You’ll just need to develop a storyboard that an illustrator can use to develop the comic.  

This contest is open to any UK student, trainee, or faculty member with a publication in the last three years in any clinical or translational field.
Interested investigators will need to submit a two-page Letter of Intent by September 2. 

LOIs will be reviewed by a committee of science and comic enthusiasts using the following criteria: 

1. The author’s vision for the characters.  For instance, an environmental pollutant could be portrayed as dark and shadowy, whereas dopamine might be brighter and take a happier form. Your ideas don’t have to be drawn or sketched, just thought out and described.
2. The author’s vision for the scenes.  Think of each experiment as a separate scene.  Same as above: no illustration is necessary, just thought out in detail.
3. The author’s description of how the community would benefit from an illustrated representation of their manuscript.

Examples of scientific comics are available on the RFA webpage.

The winning proposal will receive the following:

1. One-on-one consultation with an illustrator to develop the comic
2. Professional printing of the comic
3. Bragging rights. You’re now a comic book author!
4. A marquis location at the UK CCTS 2020 Spring Conference to display both the scientific poster and a comic poster based on the animated panels developed for the comic book  

For more information, please contact Joel Thompson, CCTS Research Development Director.