Opportunity type
Contest
Cause areas
Global priorities research
Institutional decision-making
Routes to impact
Skill-building & building career capital
Learning about important cause areas
Testing your fit for a certain career path
Skill set
Research
Academia
Communicator
Deadline
2026-05-01
Description
Astera Institute’s 2026 Essay Competition invites active scientists to propose concrete research challenges caused by systemic bottlenecks in science and suggest experimental strategies to address them.
- Open to any active scientist, regardless of degree, affiliation, or sector; entrepreneurs and for-profit scientists are welcome.
- Prizes: $30,000 (1st), $15,000 (2nd), $5,000 (3rd); essays must be posted publicly online and submitted by May 1.
- Submissions should identify a specific bottleneck, explain its systemic roots, and propose a testable hypothesis or experiment to address it.
- Prize money cannot be sent to individuals in countries sanctioned by the US; Astera Institute affiliates are not eligible.
Apply by posting your essay publicly and submitting the link via the official form.
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