The European Federation for Science Journalism has revealed the winners of its prestigious European Science Journalist of the Year award for 2023.
The award recognises and promotes excellence and innovation in science journalism across Europe, with nominations coming from national science journalism associations as well as individuals.
This year’s award has been sponsored by Elsevier, and was won by journalists from Hungary, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The winner and runners-up were announced at an awards ceremony held at the conference of the German Science Journalism Association in Freiburg, on 25 October 2023.
The third place went to Lea Udovč, Slovenia, a journalist, science editor and head of the video department at the Slovenian press agency (STA).
She was nominated by the Balkan Network of Science Journalists.
Read Lea’s winning articles:
- ‘No one suspected’. But she suffers in pain
- It’s powering humanity, and it has the power to change it
- In the lynx kingdom: paws, urine, shots, alarms… and a puppy with a new name
Udovč is a journalist, science editor and head of the video department at the Slovenian press agency (Slovenska tiskovna agencija; short: STA), and Lea also wrote long features and weekly reportage when working at the N1 media, CNN’s affiliate partner for the Balkan region. Over the years, Lea has become intensely engaged in the video aspect of journalistic production leading her to become the head of the newly formed STA video department.
Lea’s journalistic work encompasses interviews and in-depth stories on various topics ranging from medicine, astrophysics, technology, energy, neuroscience, environment, biology to history, geography, gender and sexuality. She has conducted and published several high-profile interviews with some of the most prominent names in science, namely Nobel Laureates like Stanley Whittingham, John C. Mather and Rainer Weiss, the “father of the internet” Vinton Cerf, astronaut Chris Hadfield etc. Her work has been acknowledged in Slovenia and elsewhere, becoming a finalist for the European science writer of the year award and awarded a National Debutant Award by the Association of Slovenian Journalists, both in 2018. Apart from her editorial duties, she passes her knowledge to younger generations as a guest lecturer in science journalism courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Ljubljana University and International Graduate School of the Jožef Stefan Institute.
Balkan Network of Science Journalists 