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, the Royal Society journal of the history of science, reports on current research and archival activities throughout the field of history of science, technology and medicine.

The Notes and Records biennial Essay Award has been running since 2011 and is open to early career researchers in the history of science who have completed a postgraduate degree within the last five years. The winning entry is chosen using the journal's standard criteria for selection, excellence and interest to a wide audience, and published in the journal. Winners of the Essay Award receive a cash prize of £500. One runner-up also receives a cash prize of £250, while up to three honourable mentions each receive £100. Additionally, all winners are granted a one-year online subscription to Notes and Records. 

The competition is now closed for entries. For more information, take a look at the  of the competition, including eligibility and how to enter. If you have any questions, please contact the editorial office at any time.

Winner of the 8th Notes and Records Essay Award

The winner of the 2026 Essay Award is Maria Iulia Floruțău for her entry, ‘The manul or Pallas’s cat: local nomenclature and imperial exploration in Simon Peter Pallas's binomial practice’. The judges found this to be an ‘outstanding’ essay, rich in primary sources and with substantial and insightful engagement with secondary sources. One judge member commented, the essay ‘encapsulates the entanglements of knowledge and empire in Eurasia’. It is also beautifully written.

Our honourable mention goes to Miguel C Fernandes for his entry, ‘Tracing Thinking: Embodied Cognition and Diagrammatic Practice in Medieval Logic’. Judges praised the way it stretched the boundaries of the history of science, noting the depth of its primary research and its multidisciplinary use of book history, the history of gesture, and the history of diagrams.

Essay award winners

Winning essays along with those recognised as runners-up are featured in this .

7th winner: Tracy Wietecha for 'From curiosity to marvel: the shared experience of the American agave plant by early members of the Leopoldina’ (to be published)

6th winner: Robin S Reich for ''

5th winner: Fiona Amery for ''

4th winner: Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira for ''

3rd winner: James F Stark for ''

2nd winner: Emily Winterburn for ''

1st winner: Daniel Jon Mitchell for ''