The Science Coalition is inviting undergraduate and graduate students to create personal videos to help raise awareness about the value of scientific research and demonstrate to Congress why it’s worthy of robust funding support.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan group of more than 50 research universities, including the University of Iowa, is hosting the student video challenge  to encourage students to discuss their research and why funding for science matters. The submission deadline for the Fund it Forward Student Video Challenge is Oct. 19.

Students are encouraged to be as creative as they’d like for their 60-90-second video, whether that involves using props, animations, or other cinematic touches.

Awards of $1,000, $750, and $500 will be given to the first-, second-, and third-place winners, respectively. Graduate and undergraduate submissions will be judged separately.

The winner of the People’s Choice Award, which is open to both graduates and undergraduates, will receive $500.

Judging will be based on messaging and communication, creativity, and video editing and quality.

More information, and past winning videos, may be found at https://www.sciencecoalition.org/student-video-challenge-2020/.