Friday, 22 August 2025

Spotlight on: Frontiers for Young Minds

This year, the judges have selected two finalists for the ALPSP Impact Award.

The finalists will be showcased in a lightning presentation session at the ALPSP Conference on 10 September, with the winners announced at the ALPSP Conference Awards Dinner.

In this series, we learn more about each of the finalists and their entries.


Tell us about your organization. 

 

You probably know Frontiers, a leading open-access journal publisher but did you know that there is a non-profit arm of the organization? The Frontiers Research Foundation is a Swiss non-profit founded by Kamila and Henry Markram, and this is the governing body responsible for Frontiers for Young Minds (FYM), launched in late-2013 as a non-profit programme to provide free science engagement for young readers and participants. 

 

What is the project/product that you submitted for the Awards? 

 

Frontiers for Young Minds is a unique, award-winning science journal for kids, edited by kids! 


We work with top international scientists, helping them re-write their peer-reviewed publications into a short format suitable for young readers. This goes beyond open access, giving intellectual access to cutting-edge science for everyone. 


And we go further: we ask our young audience whether they want to read it! Before each article is published, we give full review control to our global network of Young Reviewers – kids aged 8-15, directly engaging and empowering the next generation of scientists.


Our unique process means the articles on our site can be used by teachers, parents, even policymakers and more, with total confidence in both their quality and accessibility.  

 

 

Tell us a little about how it works and the team behind it 

 

Top scientists re-write their already peer-reviewed research into short form (about 1500 words per article) and submit their article as part of collections on hot topics kids want to learn about, including science from the World Economic Forum, the IPCC, NASA, CERN, and more. 

Our in-house team check every article, and then assign a handling Editor for the review from our small, expert Board of about 100 (with expertise ranging across the whole of STEMM, organised into 8 broad-themed journal sections) 


The Editor will then assign 2 adult Science Mentors, who are appointed and vetted by our team. Their role is crucial in coaching and guiding the Young Reviewers. The Science Mentors work with their young people in locations across 60 current active countries – and teach them not only about the science of the particular article they will review, but also about the wider research world, and how to ask good questions. Then they produce together their Peer Review Report. 


Our Authors must respond to all questions and comments in the Reports, and make all edits requested. Only when all Young Reviewers are satisfied that each article is clear, and fun-to-read for their peers, are our articles then published. And everything we publish is free to read for anyone with an internet connection, with no registration required. 


In this unique process, our Young Reviewers learn not only about the latest science but also about how research and publishing work, and gain critical thinking skills for life. Our respected academic authors learn too – how to communicate outside their own research fields and make a truly global impact by enabling tomorrow’s world leaders to understand today’s scientific breakthroughs. 

 

As Head of Program, I lead a small team of 6 passionate and dedicated people, who manage all the processes from submission to publication of over 250 original articles in English per year, and in addition, the translations of hundreds more into Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and French. We work closely with our Editors, in particular our founding co-Chief Editors, Prof. Robert (Bob) Knight of UC Berkeley, and Prof. Idan Segev of Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 

 

How does your project demonstrate impact? 

 

FYM started very small 11 years ago, but has more recently made significant impact, becoming a global force for science engagement.  

  • Directly engaged 10,000 young people total, aged 8-15 from 65 countries worldwide in our unique peer review, and published 1700+ original articles across the whole of STEMM.  
  • Massive readership: to date, our articles have been read and downloaded 54M+ times from 230 countries and territories - an average of over 32K per article.  
  • Attracting many Nobel Prize winners to inspire young people with the stories of their ground-breaking science. To date, 33 Nobel Laureates have published in our 4-volumeNobel Collectionread by over 4M people and featured in The Times (2025) and The Washington Post (2023). 
  • From 2022 onwards, received several award recognitions reflecting our globally-established impact and importance. Recognised with a Special Mention by Bologna Children's Book Fair for their 2025 Digital Reading Experience award, FYM was described by the jury as "a groundbreaking science engagement platform that redefines academic publishing." 

More than anything else, we are proud of the real-life impact we have had for the participants in our process. For our 10-year anniversary, we interviewed some of the Young Reviewers who worked with us in the early years, and we got some great feedback on the impact of their involvement: 

I was always interested in science but FYM helped me step into it. If and when I have children, I’d love them to know about FYM – it could help them get into science too.”  

Maia, aged 11 when doing her first review with us 


I really wanted more science in my life... and it was cool to be part of how science works and give constructive criticism. … 100% it cemented my foundation in neuroscience and enabled me to process scientific language. Showing this to kids in a way that other kids already understand makes it not intimidating and enables them to enjoy starting to learn how the world works.”  

– Bhargavi, aged 13 when reviewing, now studying postgraduate neuroscience 

 
What are your plans for the future? 

 

I would love to see translated versions of our article in further key global language demographics such as Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi. We need new regional partners to help us empower as many kids as possible to access top science in their own language. 


I’m also forming new collaborations with major science institutions and knowledge partners every month, so watch this space! 


About the author


Laura Henderson, Head of Program, Frontiers for Young Minds Laura Henderson has 20 years’ experience in academic publishing. As part of the Frontiers Research Foundation, she strategically directs the unique open-access science-engagement project, Frontiers for Young Minds. Previously she led high-value academic journal programs with Frontiers and formerly project-managed and commissioned books for Cambridge University Press. Passionate about science communication and publishing innovation, she has spoken at many academic conferences, both international and virtual, as an invited speaker and educator for early-career researchers. For FYM, she has driven multiple award wins, given talks at conferences in 10 countries and led many live events. Laura holds MA and MPhil degrees from Cambridge University, is an experienced trainer and training creator, and acts as a ALPSP Certified Mentor for publishing.

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