Hey @AIMLawg @ALSDAawg @AnimalAWG @BrainAWG @FemaleReproAWG @HardwareAWG @HUMANawg @MicrobesAWG @MultiOmicsAWG @PlantAWG @PPawg @RLWG
Sharing an interesting opportunity that might resonate with folks in this community.
Astera Institute is running a 2026 Science Essay Competition focused on identifying systemic bottlenecks in science. The prompt: describe a concrete research challenge in your own work or field that you think stems from structural or systems-level issues — and sketch a testable hypothesis or experimental path toward addressing it.
Prizes:
∙ 1st: $30,000
∙ 2nd: $15,000
∙ 3rd: $5,000
Key details:
∙ Open to any active scientist, any sector (including entrepreneurs and for-profit scientists)
∙ Essay must be posted publicly online before submission (blog, forum post, public doc, etc.)
∙ Up to ~3 single-spaced pages
∙ Submission deadline: May 1, 2026
∙ Winners announced by June 15, 2026
Given how much our community thinks about open science infrastructure, data standards, training pipelines, and cross-disciplinary collaboration challenges, this feels like a natural fit for AWG members with strong opinions about what’s holding the field back 
Read the full competition details here: https://astera.org/essay-competition/
And their motivation/rationale post here: https://open.substack.com/pub/asterainstitute/p/identifying-systemic-bottlenecks?r=4pzbft&utm_medium=ios
Good luck to anyone who takes a swing at it!
-Ryan (@rtscott2001)