- Pay attention to detail and structure - Scientific accuracy as well as good layout, spelling and grammar make your report or story easier to read.
- Keep your readers’ interest - Capture your readers’ attention with a short lead-in paragraph and round off with a paragraph that wraps up the whole report.
- Be original - Don't just list the facts.
- Be concise - This can help you to explain your ideas more clearly.
- Draw from your own experiences - Don’t be afraid of writing about what you have experienced, and why not talk to real people?
- Have reliable sources - E-mail or talk to an expert; look up books, surf the web. The more in-depth your research, and the wider the variety of your sources, the fuller your arguments will be.
- Use references - Show where your facts came from by listing your references but don’t just copy information from books or the internet.
- Beware the pitfalls of plagiarism - Don’t use others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.
- Say what’s on your mind - As long as the science is sound, you are free to use your imagination and write what you really want to say.
- Have an opinion - If dealing with a controversial subject either come to a firm conclusion or explain why that can't be done.
- Learn by example - Read previous prize-winning entries and see why the judges were impressed by the quality of these entries.
- Enter Online - Type your essay and copy and paste it into the online application form. Please note that this form will automatically remove all formatting (bold, italics, footnotes, superscripts etc) so define headings or sections in your essay using spaces and upper case text. Typed entries may also be sent by post, however those who submit entries online will be entered into a draw to win €50.
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