Canada’s Storytellers Challenge Seeks Compelling Narratives About Student Research

“We are, as a species, addicted to story,” says English professor Jonathan Gottschall in his book, The Storytelling Animal. “Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” Given that power, very often in an academic- or policy-specific milieu those describing or advocating for their work fall back on purely quantitative metrics and cold logic that can often glaze the eyes rather than activate the listener.

Likely with that in mind, Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council, or SSHRC, has been offering a Storytellers Challenge for the past decade that asks postsecondary students to explain – in a story – how SSHRC-funded social sciences and humanities research is affecting lives and futures, Canadian and global, for the better.

Canadian residents 19 and older enrolled at a Canadian postsecondary institution are being asked to submit an original work, specifically a video or audio clip of up to three minutes or a text or infographic of up to 300 words, featuring SSHRC-funded research carried out at the institution at which you are enrolled at the time of submission. The story can center on the student’s works or that of a teacher (with their permission) and must be submitted to SSHC for judging by January 25.

Winners will be chosen in two phases. Twenty finalists can each receive $3,000, which then gives SSHRC the right to use their stories, and a final five will be drawn from that pool of 20 for a Final Five status and an additional $1,000. One ‘engagement prize’ with another $1,000 award may be awarded to a finalist “who most creatively and consistently  promotes” their own submission, submissions from others, and the challenge itself. All finalists are expected to present their story before a live audience at a Storytellers Showcase in June 2025 at the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick

On the challenge’s description page, SSHRC offers some tips for ensuring the stories are compelling, creative and clear: Use common language and avoid jargon. Show how the research affects real people in their real lives. Show, don’t tell.

For inspiration and enlightenment, past winners and their stories are catalogued on a gallery page on the SHRC website.