The 2025 Mary Mulvihill Award on the theme ‘Life’ is now open for applications

Deadline for submissions Midnight Sunday 6 April 2025

DUBLIN—The Mary Mulvihill Association invites submissions to its 2025 student media
competition on the theme of ‘Life’. Entries are sought from students of all disciplines—undergraduate
or postgraduate—studying at third-level institutions anywhere on the island of Ireland. The closing
date is Midnight, Sunday 6 April 2025.
The topic may be addressed in scientific, critical, imaginative, or other terms. Entries are welcome in
any media format: written texts, photos, infographics, comic strips, or other visual forms. Interviews
may be presented as text, video, or audio. There are no prescriptions on how it might be approached.
As a theme, life offers myriad routes for exploration. The word is replete with so many different
meanings and resonances. At one level, it refers to the set of attributes by which we distinguish living
organisms from inanimate matter. This includes homeostasis, metabolism, reproduction, cellular
structure, and the ability to respond to stimuli. All living things, from bacteria and archaea and other
single-celled organisms, to plants, insects and mammals, share these characteristics, although how
they manifest them differs enormously. The scale of biological diversity on our planet is vast—and
our understanding of it is still hugely incomplete.
The scientific study of life extends across a similarly enormous and diverse range of disciplines.
These operate at vastly different scales, from the planetary to the cellular, subcellular, molecular and
atomic levels. Astrobiology and exobiology (still very speculative areas of research), evolution,
ecology, marine biology, zoology, plant science, microbiology, developmental biology, cell biology,
molecular biology, genetics, and structural biology are just some of its branches. In between, a
plethora of disciplines and sub-disciplines is focused on particular areas of biology. Moreover, the
development and practice of medicine and veterinary science are wholly dependent on biological
knowledge.Life also represents a period of time—the number of days, weeks, or years during which an organism,
human or otherwise—has lived, as well as the myriad activities and behaviours that the organism
engaged in while alive.
Obviously, we do not view life solely through a scientific lens—in addition to its biological meanings,
life has a rich set of ethical, moral, and cultural connotations. We supposedly hold human and other
forms of life to be inherently valuable, precious, or even sacred, yet we also destroy it readily in
pursuit of military, economic, or other goals. It is one of the great paradoxes of human existence that
we expend vast amounts of our capabilities on protecting and preserving life and equally vast amounts
of resources on ending it.
But we also spend a vast amount of intellectual, creative, and emotional energy considering the many
wonders of life. Our ability to consider life, in all its richness, may be one of the defining
characteristics of humans.
For the 2025 Mary Mulvihill Award, we invite entrants to consider at least one aspect of life.
The theme of the award changes every year, reflecting Mary Mulvihill’s broad interests in science and
technology and its interrelationships with other aspects of human culture and the natural world. That
breadth also applies to how competition participants could address the theme.
The award is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in an Irish higher education
institution at the time of submission. In addition to the overall award of €2,000, the judges may, at
their discretion, make an additional award of €500 for a highly commended entry.
For further information on the award, including guidance to entrants and past winners, see
https://marymulvihillaward.ie. The deadline for submissions is Midnight Sunday 6 April 2025.
The Mary Mulvihill Award is a project of Remembering Mary, an initiative established by family and
friends of the late Mary Mulvihill (1959–2015) to honour her memory and her work in science
journalism, science communication and heritage and to promote her legacy. It administers and awards
funds to commemorate her work and its significance.

Further Information:
info@marymulvihillaward.ie
@RememberingMary
https://marymulvihillaward.ie

 

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