Got an exciting result? Pitch your work to ESO Communications!
IC1284. NGC6589 and NGC6590 nebulae. Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team
Are you an author on an upcoming scientific study based on ESO data that could be relevant to journalists or the wider public? Or are you a Principal Investigator on ESO observations with potential to become stunning images like that above? If so, please consider sending your paper and/or a preview of the image(s) obtained with ESO telescopes to ESO's Media Manager Bárbara Ferreira at press@eso.org.
What we are after
The ESO Department of Communication is always searching for interesting, curious, or impactful studies, or stunning astronomical images, to highlight to the media and the public, be it through press releases or other communication products, such as ESO blog posts or pictures of the week. Papers are welcome that present new (not yet published) scientific results, as well as astronomical images, that are based on data from ESO telescopes and instruments, including those in which ESO is a partner, such as ALMA, or hosted at ESO observatories.
Stories that have potential to excite journalists, as opposed to stories primarily relevant to the scientific community, are particularly welcomed. In addition to groundbreaking, or record-breaking, studies, we are also looking for unusual, quirky stories that can resonate with the public, be it because they solve a mystery, settle a debate or make people feel connected to the Universe.
Submissions of studies with a diverse author team with regards to gender, career stage, and country of affiliation are especially encouraged. Also encouraged are submissions of papers/observations with a first author/Principal Investigator based at a scientific institution in Chile or Australia (ESO's strategic and partner states) or in an ESO Member State that is not usually highlighted in ESO’s communications.
We accept pitches from papers to be published in any peer-reviewed journal, regardless of the impact factor.
When to submit your research to us
Since the process of evaluating, preparing and reviewing ESO news products can be lengthy, please send your paper to us as soon as it has been submitted to a journal (no later than 4-6 weeks prior to expected publication). ESO will then ask you a few questions about your research so that we can best access the result's newsworthiness, its scientific relevance and the role of ESO's facilities in obtaining it. For convenience, you can use this pre-populated email, which already includes our standard questionnaire.
If we decide to publicise your paper, we'll produce a release and accompanying visuals, all of which undergo review by you and ESO prior to publication.
While only a few pitches are successful, the reward is high: if your science does make it into a press release, blog post or picture of the week, it will reach a broad community of people around the world.
Engineering milestones
Are you an engineer working at ESO who has an exciting milestone to share? We often publish news on milestones related to ESO projects, or conduct in-depth interviews with engineers and other ESO staff about their work for the organisation. If you have news to share that could be of relevance to the public, please email press@eso.org with more details.