Outreach and Engagement Prize Lecture
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.
Nominations for the 2027 Outreach and Engagement Prize will open on Tuesday April 7 2026. The deadline for submissions is 14 June 2026. Details of the nomination process and award criteria can be found below.
- Award criteria and guidance
- Nomination information
- Previous winners of the Outreach and Engagement Prize
Award criteria and guidance
The Outreach and Engagement Prize recognises individuals or teams who have demonstrated excellence in science communication, pedagogy, 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 the graduate or undergraduate level.
- Enthusing students (at primary and secondary school levels) about microbiology.
- Engaging an audience in a 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.
The form will ask you to:
- Outline the distinction of the candidate's work and contribution to science communication, pedagogy, or outreach and engagement in the field of microbiology.
This section should describe the candidate’s field of interest in microbiology, the approaches and tools they use or have developed for outreach, engagement or education as a primary goal. All levels and kinds of audiences are considered from primary education through to higher education, continued professional development and communication to the public.
- Explain how the candidate’s work has stimulated interest and understanding in the subject.
This section might include evidence of the impact of the candidate’s work on education policy or curricula, changes in public perception of science/microbiology issues or audience feedback. Describe how the evaluation of the activities has been performed; please include the outcomes of the activity.
- Provide any further comments or information you feel relevant to the nomination that has not been covered in previous sections
This section could include contributions to wider society, invitations to share practice from other disciplines or other organisations. Please include links to work and projects where appropriate.
Nominations must also upload a concise CV to supplement this application. We are also able to accept photographs and links to videos where appropriate. The CV should include publications and work relevant to the Prize, and also a statement acknowledging understanding of the rules of the award scheme.
Nomination information
The deadline for submissions is 14 June 2026.
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 members of the Society.
Please click the 'Nominate now' button below and log in to your MiSociety account to submit a nomination. You will need to enter some text into all mandatory fields before being able to save a draft of your nomination. Once saved, you will be able to return to edit it; however, once a nomination is submitted, it cannot be amended. You may therefore prefer to collaborate via an offline version and copy it across when ready for submission for ease.
The recipient of the 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.
Unsuccessful nominations will be reconsidered for a further two years, pending confirmation/update of the nomination by the nominators each year. If the period expires and the nomination remains unsuccessful, individuals may be nominated again after a one-year period. This policy 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.
The Microbiology Society is committed to ensuring equal access to opportunities to participate in our activities, and therefore we are asking members who nominate to our Prize Lectures to ensure their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Questionnaire answers are up to date. While it is voluntary to disclose information about yourself, your responses will be instrumental in supporting us to make the Society more inclusive. All of your responses to this questionnaire will be treated as confidential, in line with our privacy policy and data protection laws. Any reporting of the data will be anonymised and will be used to monitor and review the diversity and inclusivity of the Society and its activities.
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.
