Judging procedures

For judging purposes, the essays will be grouped according to the geographic location of the degree-granting institution: North America, Europe, Japan, and all other countries.

Regional judges will conduct initial screening of the submissions. Essays will be judged on the quality of the research and the entrant's ability to articulate the contribution of the research to the field of molecular biology. The top five essays from each geographic region will be forwarded to a panel of judges. The Science editors retain the right to forward fewer than five essays if they deem the quality or quantity of submissions in any of the groups to be inadequate. The judging panel will be composed of prominent international researchers in the field of molecular biology.