The Outreach and Engagement Prize Lecture (original) (raw)

The Outreach and Engagement Prize (formerly the Peter Wildy Prize Lecture) recognises individuals or teams who have demonstrated excellence in science communication, pedagogy, or outreach and engagement in the field of microbiology.

The focus of these activities could be:

• Engagement with the public, the media, or government to raise awareness of microbiology and its impact on our lives.
• Excellence in teaching at graduate or undergraduate level.
• Enthusing students (at primary and secondary school level) about microbiology.
• Engaging an audience in discussion of the impact of microbiology on society.
• Exploring the social and ethical aspects related to an aspect of microbiology research.

The recipient of the Outreach and Engagement Prize Lecture will receive £1,000 and be expected to give a lecture based on their research at the Microbiology Society's Annual Conference. They will also be strongly encouraged to publish the lecture in one of the Society’s journals, whichever is the most suitable. This decision will be at the discretion of the Editors of the journals.

Nominations for the 2026 Prize will open in early 2025. Details of the nomination process, award criteria and administration can be found below.

Key details

Nominations for the Prize are welcome from any member of the Microbiology Society, regardless of membership period or category. Nominees do not have to be a member of the Society.

Successful nominees and awardees will be notified by the end of November. Each Prize winner is also awarded £1,000.

Details of the nomination process, award criteria and administration are available below.

• [Nominations process](#Nominations process)
• [Award criteria](#Award criteria)
• [Additional information](#Additional information)

Previous winners of the Outreach and Engagement Prize Lecture (formerly the Peter Wildy Prize Lecture)

Visit our Youtube channel playlist to watch previous Prize Lectures.

Nominations process

The Outreach and Engagement Prize recognises individuals or teams who have demonstrated excellence in science communication, pedagogy or outreach and engagement in the field of microbiology.

If you require inspiration for your nomination, please see the example nomination forms available on the Prize Lectures page.

After nominations are received, an appointed Prize Award Panel, chaired by the General Secretary of the Society, will be responsible for presenting a shortlist for the Prize Medal and a recommendation for all other Prize winners to the Advisory Council. The successful recipient will be invited to accept, and the recipient will be formally announced in autumn.

If your nomination was unsuccessful, please remember that we automatically consider all Prize nominations for two further years. If the period expires and the nomination remains unsuccessful, individuals may be nominated again after a one-year period. This is in place to protect the nominee as they may wish to withdraw from the process. The Society office will contact you each year in order to update the nomination.

Award criteria

The Outreach and Engagement Prize recognises individuals or teams who have demonstrated excellence in science communication, pedagogy or outreach and engagement in the field of microbiology.

The focus of these activities could be:

• Engagement with the public, the media or government to raise awareness of microbiology and its impact on our lives.
• Excellence in teaching at graduate or undergraduate level.
• Enthusing students (at primary and secondary school level) about microbiology.
• Engaging an audience in discussion of the impact of microbiology on society.
• Exploring the social and ethical aspects related to an aspect of microbiology research.

Nominations should include:

• Description of the innovation, originality and quality of the individual or team’s work.
• Monitoring and evaluation measures taken by the individual or team to demonstrate impact. Examples could include:
  • Evidence of any changes in perspective or behaviour as a result of the nominee’s interventions;
  • How/if the target audience’s appreciation of the value of microbiology has increased;
  • If the public's ability to assimilate information on microbiology and related issues in an informed and accurate manner has been enhanced;
  • If the target audience’s appreciation of the value of studying biological sciences/microbiology at school level and beyond has increased;
  • If the target audience now thinks differently about the microbiological issue being presented.
• Evidence of mentoring, supporting and/or training others.

Nominators are welcome to submit supporting evidence, for example photographs of events, but should note that the information on the form will be the primary method of considering nominations.

Additional information

All supplementary material required by the rules of the award must be provided at the point of nomination. If you foresee any problems meeting the advertised deadline, please contact [email protected].

We welcome nominations from groups of members. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to be put in touch with someone to help.

The Microbiology Society supports equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and asks that members making nominations consider the entire talent pool available. You can find out more about our policy and see our most recent data on the EDI page.

For questions about this prize, please contact [email protected]

Peter Wildy Prize Winners

Learn more about some of our previous Peter Wildy Prize Lecture winners.

Peter Wildy: a short history

The Peter Wildy Prize Lecture is awarded annually to an individual for an outstanding contribution to microbiology education and/or communication in order to stimulate interest and understanding in the subject. Learn more about Peter Wildy here.