Rules of the Literary Contest “Tales from the Mednight” 2022

Mediterranean Researchers’ Night, “MEDNIGHT” announces, on a competitive basis, the literary contest “Tales from the Mednight” / “Cuentos de Mednight”.

With the aim of bringing Mediterranean scientific activity closer to different sectors of the population in a pleasant and entertaining way, the literary contest “Tales of Mednight”/”Cuentos de Mednight” has been created. The main objective of the contest is to encourage and instil the scientific spirit, both in those who built our present and in those who will soon take up the baton of the advancement of our society.

The contest will also serve to expose the importance of scientific activity and method, as well as the relevance of discoveries for the progress of our society. At the same time, it will show that science, beyond clichés and clichés, is as much fun as it is necessary.

In order to facilitate participation and the creation of the works, registered participants will be provided, through the channel described in these rules, with a training video on how to create a popular science story, as well as a lecture on the history of Mediterranean Science that can serve as inspiration for possible themes. In addition, the titles of the other activities of the project will serve as inspiration: Sky and Stars; The Roots: Mediterranean Heritage; The Gardens of Mednight; The Machines of Mednight.

Rules:

1. Any person of legal age is eligible for the prize, provided that the entries comply with these rules. Failure to comply with these rules will automatically disqualify the participant.

2. The works must be unpublished and original, intended for children between the ages of six and twelve, and must not have won a prize in any other competition. Writings that are a copy or modification, in whole or in part, of another prize-winning or published text will be excluded.

3. The languages in which the stories may be submitted are Spanish and English.

4. The theme of the stories must meet the following conditions: the story will be devised with the aim of disseminating science through its representation to a general public, and outside scientific activity, aimed at the ages mentioned in the second section of these rules.

5. The story must be written in prose, although it may contain poetry as part of its content.

6. The plot will be related to the field of science and to recognisable elements of this field such as: the scientific method; deductive reasoning; discoveries; and the tasks of research activity; in addition, it will encourage the recreation of this scientific element. Any aspect and element of science that has taken place in the Mediterranean, throughout history, in the present or in the future, may also be the subject of the story.

7. An on-line training will be offered to registered participants, through the mechanism described in these rules, consisting of a lesson on the history of Mediterranean science, by video session, and a short story writing workshop, also given by video. It will be available at the following link https://mednight.eu/tales/

8. The texts presented will have a maximum length of 1500 words. The originals must be written in Times New Roman font, size 12, including the title, 1.5 line spacing, with a margin of 2 centimetres on each side, without images or illustrations. Pages must be numbered.

9. Works must be submitted electronically, using the form, the link to which can be found at the end of this point and of the rules. The file with the text in PDF format must be attached, which must not include any personal details, only the title and a pseudonym. The participation form can be filled in from the competition website: https://mednight.eu/tales/

10. These rules will be published on 22 April 2022, and the deadline for submitting works will begin on the same day as the publication of these rules and will end at 23:59 hours on 29 July 2022. Within a maximum of 5 days after this date, the provisional lists of the works submitted will be published.

11. The jury will be made up of persons of recognised experience in the scientific and literary fields. The jury will have, in addition to the power to issue the decision and award the prize, the power to interpret these rules. The jury’s decision shall be final, and the prize may be declared void. No member of the jury may be a participant in this competition.

12. The deliberation on the texts submitted and the final vote will take place on 31 July 2022.

13. The current call for entries, as well as the list of persons admitted and the jury’s decision, as well as the members of the jury participating in this edition, will be published at https://mednight.eu. The jury’s decision will also be announced in a press release, as well as through various publications on social networks.

14. The prize will consist of the on-line publication of a book with the compilation of all the winning works with the management and obtaining of ISBN, as well as the representation of their work in the activities of La Noche de Las Investigadoras Mediterráneas, both in Spain and in those of the entities of the other European countries integrated in MEDNIGHT. The authors will continue to own the intellectual property and will continue to be able to use their work.

15. This literary competition will be conditioned by the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the restrictions established at any given time by the health authorities. Any modification to what is set out in these rules will be made known through the information channels indicated in point thirteen of this call for entries.

16. Protection of personal data: The body responsible for the processing of personal data is the Museo Didáctico e Interactivo de Ciencias de la Vega Baja del Segura (MUDIC), with address at carretera de Beniel, kilómetro 3,2. Postal code 03312 Orihuela. The purpose of the processing of personal data is the management of the prizes.

17. MUDIC and MEDNIGHT reserve the right, free of any remuneration in favour of the authors, to use the winning works for events and science dissemination activities within the Mediterranean Researchers Night project. Each author will be named, and will be used under a Creative Commons (CC) licence. Mednight is a non-profit organisation, whose aim is to disseminate Mediterranean scientific activity.

18. Participation in this competition implies full acceptance of the general and specific rules governing these awards. In case of doubt about their interpretation, each jury will decide what it considers to be the fairest in agreement with the organisation.

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