Announcing the 2025-2026 Program for Curious Science Writers
The summer boot camp is held online with in-person experiences available in some areas.
What is involved?
Curious Science Writers is a year-long program with the bulk of activities and work taking place during the summer months.
Interested students apply for a role as either writer, editor, graphic designer or social media coordinator. Students become part of the Curious Science Writers community where they are able to learn and apply new skills while building long lasting relationships with fellow students from across the nation and around the world, program faculty and science communication professionals.
Once accepted via a highly compettive application process, candidates will begin to prepare for the summer boot camp. Writers will research their assigned bioscience topic. Editors, graphic designers and social media coordinators will become familiar with the bioscience topics chosen for the current class.
All students accepted to the program will actively participate in an intense 5-day virtual boot camp.* The program is taught by core faculty and guest speakers who are professional science writers and science communicators. Students will also have the opportunity to interact with scientists and others involved in the biomedical research community. In addition, each student is matched with a professional science communications mentor who will provide guidance as new skills are applied after the boot camp.
The writing, editing, design, publishing and distribution of stories happens after the boot camp. Writers interview content experts, work with mentors, write their stories and turn them in by August 30. The editorial team and graphic designers then work to edit and design the art for the stories during the upcoming academic year. Finally, the social media team promotes the publish stories to their peers and other public audiences througout the year..
During the acadmic year (September to May), the editorial team attends a monthly team meeting. All students (writers, editors, artists, social media coordinators along with past and potential students) have the opportunity to attend regular cSw gatherings featuring guest speakers, sci comm activities, networking, and more.
*Thursday during the week of the summer bootcamp will feature in-person or live virtual visits to a cutting edge research facility.
Who should apply?
The program is open to all curious and creative high school students. Preference is provided to those currently in grade 10 or 11.
How many positions are available?
cSw accepts up to 24 writers, 2 editors, 2 graphic designers and 2 social media coordinators for the Curious Science Writers Class. Training will primarily occur during the summer, with some sessions occurring during the academic school year, depending on the position. Read the cSw Position Descriptions here.
2025 – 2026 Program Schedule
- Application Period, January 15 – May 15 (or until all slots are filled)
- Story Assignments, May 15-June 15 Students are assigned a biomedical research topic to cover. They collect information about the topic (e.g. scientific literature, science-based websites, reliable news coverage).
- Boot Camp, July 14-18 Online*program from ~9 am – 5 pm ET. Daily schedule consists of course content, guest speakers, independent assignments, group exercises and homework.
- *IN-PERSON FIELD TRIPS: On Thursday during the boot camp, students in some areas will attend in-person experiences to research facilities. Those not in an area with this opportunity will experience an exclusive, live virtual visit to a research facility.
- Post Boot Camp Biweekly Meetings – Saturday Mornings July 26, August 9, August 23
- Story Development, July – August: Working with a professional Communications Mentor, each writer will produce a carefully researched, clear and compelling biomedical science story for a general audience. Interaction is online; preferred means of communicating (email, skype, telephone, etc.) will be agreed upon by writer/mentor. Editors, designers and social media coordinators will attend one to three additional training sessions during this time frame.
- Weekend Lock-In: A four hour, Sunday evening “lock-in” will be held on the second Sunday in September. All writers, editors, designers and social media coordinators will come together to get all submitted articles ready for publication.
- Story Editing and Publishing September – June: Final editing and story publishing will happen between September and May of the academic year. Each student writer may be required to attend one meeting with the editorial team via web/call and provide edits as requested before the story is published. Editorial team members (editors, designers, social media coordinators) schedule to be determined post-boot camp.
- Monthly editorial team meetings and cSw Gatherings:
- Editorial team members (editors, artists, graphic designers) attend a monthly team meeting.
- If there is interest, students, alumni and friends are invited to a monthly gathering featuring a guest speaker, program updates, time to work with editors, designers and social media coordinators and skill building.
Rolling Admission
Candidates are accepted on a rolling admission basis. Applications will be closed when all slots are filled.
Tuition
$350 Early Registration (before April 1 May 1 **extended**). $450 Regular Registration. Scholarships for those in need are available. Contact us at paula@amprogress.org for more information on scholarships.
Program Goals
- To provide foundational skills needed to produce clear & compelling science stories
- To model the real-world science communications experience
- To expose participants to career opportunities in science communications
Staffed by professional communicators with extensive expertise in science writing, the cSw Boot Camp will offer up to 30 select students an intensive short course in producing clear and compelling science stories for a public audience.
Students will interview a content expert relevant to the biomedical science story they are researching and writing and be paired with a mentor actively working in the field. The month following the day camp will involve writer/mentor interaction while students write their stories. Stories are then sent to the cSw Editorial Team. This experienced student team, which includes a Chief Editor, Creative Team Manager and Social Media Manager, will work with new student editors, graphic designers, social media coordinators and writers to polish, publish and promote stories throughout the academic year.
What is the profile of the ideal cSw Candidate?
- Curious, creative and committed to advancing the art of science communication
- Open to constructive feedback
- Prepared to revise stories, rework graphics and/or promote stories
- Self-motivated and self-disciplined but also a team player
- Not afraid to ask questions regarding roles and responsibilities
- Organized and able to meet deadlines
- Passionate, expressive, and open to learning new ideas and skills
- Willing to work hard
- Accountable
- Committed to actively participating fully in the program, including attending the monthly meetings
- Genuine desire to be a Curious Science Writer
Thinking about applying? You will need to complete an application and submit three additional items: two recommendations – one from a teacher and one from a supervisor for an activity outside of school – and a parent consent form. Applications open in January
Questions? Contact the cSw Program Director at paula@amprogress.org or the cSw Program Coordinator at info@curioussciencewriters.org.