The 2007 David W. Miller Award for Student Journalists

David W. Miller, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, was killed at the age of 35 by a drunken driver in January 2002. Mr. Miller's outstanding career was distinguished by two hallmarks: his insatiable curiosity about people and the world of ideas, and his love for precise and evocative writing.

With this award, now in its fifth year, The Chronicle seeks to pay tribute to Mr. Miller and to identify and nurture future generations of student journalists who are as interested in big ideas and excellent writing as he was.

The award consists of a $2,500 prize and a certificate, and is presented annually. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2007, and the winner will be announced in the fall.

Candidates may apply for the award by submitting up to three samples of published work accompanied by a one-page letter describing the articles and why they were chosen for submission.

The samples of published work must have appeared in a campus publication during the 2006-7 academic year. Each piece of writing should be journalistic, using expository, explanatory, narrative, or other techniques to report evenhandedly on a topic of intellectual interest. Examples include a new trend, discovery, or theory; an important scholarly debate; an issue with both scholarly and public-policy implications; or a researcher who is as interesting as his or her scholarship. Applicants may bolster their candidacies by submitting articles on a variety of topics or in a range of genres.

Opinion essays, personal columns, scholarly or research papers, and articles that present the author's own research findings are ineligible.

Candidates for the award must have been undergraduate students at the time their articles were published. Applicants may be students in any country, but their submissions must be in English. Employees of The Chronicle and their families are ineligible.

How to apply

Applicants should send their materials, including an address or addresses at which they can be reached in the fall, to: 

Applications may be submitted on paper or by e-mail. Writing samples may be original clippings, photocopies of clippings, printouts from publications' Web sites, or links to such Web sites. Applicants seeking the return of their materials should include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Electronic-only submissions should be sent as straight-text e-mail messages, not as attachments.

Because of the volume of submissions, applicants will not receive confirmation that their materials have arrived and only the winning applicant will be informed individually of the contest's outcome.

No telephone calls, please.