The competition is open to individual and teams of undergraduate and graduate students who are legal U.S. residents and enrolled full-time in two- or four-year undergraduate or graduate institutions in the U.S. 

Individual students should be enrolled in a degree program related to the Earth and space sciences or transdisciplinary programs. Teams of students should include students enrolled in at least two different disciplines, one of which should be outside the Earth and space science related disciplines, such as information technology, data science, computer science, or social and behavioral sciences. 

All applicants have virtual opportunities for:

• Workshops on storytelling using data and on data visualization
• Open office hours to assist with application process
• Career exploration/job search webinars
• Feedback on their presentation from science visualization professionals at NASA and elsewhere

Additionally, all applicants will have the opportunity to virtually present their research in early 2024.

The review committee will select a total of 16 winners: eight grand prize winners and eight runners-up.

Grand prize winners will receive:

• A $3000 grant to attend the American Geophysical Union 2023 meeting (#AGU23) in December 2023 online or in-person
• One complimentary registration to AGU 2023 Meeting in December 2023
• An opportunity to present on the NASA Hyperwall at #AGU23
• Up to $3000 to participate in one additional professional development or community outreach opportunity in 2024.
• Grand prize winners will be provided professional development opportunities for a duration of three years. If a team is selected as a winner, the team lead will designate how to divide the grant funds. Complimentary AGU Fall Meeting registration will only be awarded to the team lead.

Runner-up winners will receive: 

• $1000 grant attend the American Geophysical Union 2023 meeting in December 2023 online or in-person 
• One complimentary registration to the AGU 2023 Meeting in December 2023, including registration to the Student and Early Career Scientist Conference

The competition is open to all who meet the following three criteria:

• Legal U.S. residents
• Students enrolled full-time in two- or four-year undergraduate or graduate institutions in the U.S.
• Individual submissions in the Earth and space sciences or team submissions in convergent science

Applicants are limited to one proposal per year but may resubmit in a future year. Previous grand prize winners of the Freilich Competition are not eligible to reapply.

• Both individual and team submissions will be accepted; interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.
• Individuals/teams must submit a one/two-paragraph statement of purpose describing the data used, including source and authorized use for each data, and what the scientific potential is.
• Proposed story and visualization for a presentation no longer than 10 minutes in a storyboard format including:
  • examples of static images
  • planned visualizations and description of how the visualization will work
  • supporting narrative text
• Optional: Up to three MP4 files of a one- to three-minute building block/sample of visualization
• For team submissions: Describe the benefits of working beyond discipline-specific approaches to collaboratively address common goals.

Team submissions should be comprised of at least two people and no more than five contributors. All members of the team must be students and one team member should be formally enrolled in a degree program in one of the following fields:  social, behavioral, or economic sciences education and human resources.

If submitting as a team, the team must identify a project lead, who is responsible for submitting the proposal and identifying how award funds will be distributed between team members. 

Co-authors can be recognized in both individual and team submissions.