Science Communication Course: Part I | Why am I Communicating: Communication Goals

Science and Science Communication
Often the term “science” is meant just for the natural sciences (biology, physics, etc.), mathematics, engineering, medicine, and so on. But this is not how this term is meant in this course: When our lecturer Kristin Raabe is using the term “science”, she includes basically everything you can study at a university - the social sciences, the humanities and the arts, for example. We need them all if we want to overcome the challenges that every society in Europe and worldwide is facing and sometimes collaborations between completely different areas of expertise are able to achieve a dialog with a lay audience that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. Watch a great example of such a collaboration here: • Art & Science - Scienc...
Also “science communication” can sometimes mean how to write a scientific article, how to quote literature correctly, and alike. In those cases, science communication refers to the communication within the scientific community. However, in this video tutorial science communication refers exclusively to the communication between researchers and a lay audience. Nevertheless, the communication tools you use in this course-the 4 Ws and H for example-can be applied to any type of communication.
TASK:
1. Think about your motivation to become an active science communicator. Write it down and talk about it with a colleague.
2. Choose a topic that you want to communicate with a non-expert audience. Be as concrete as possible! Don’t say “I’m communicating about botany” - rather choose aspecific plant or talk about photosynthesis. Explain it to a friend or family member who does not know anything about this topic.
3. Answer the first W-Question “Why am I communicating?” and choose your communication goals (ego-goal and they-goal). Write it down and think about what you could do to reach your goals. Take notes.
Links and background material:
• 5 W and H - The Wikipedia article gives some interesting background information on this
topic: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws
• Interview with Professor Robin Warren, a tuberculosis researcher from South Africa, about
why science communication is important for him and his work: • SCISO presents Robin W...
• Introduction into science communication in South Africa from Marina Joubert, a
communication researcher from Stellenbosch University: • SCISO presents Marina ...
• Science communication resources in Europe: You might find interesting links to initiatives
and guidelines in your home country on this website: scienceeurope.org/our-priorit...
• Science Communication resources from the European Research Council (ERC):
erc.europa.eu/manage-your-pro...
• ERC Interview with Luke O’Neill, member of the ERC Scientific Council :
• Luke O'Neill's tips on...
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Design and Implementation; Kristin Raabe. This initiative falls under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, grant agreement No. 101035801. Please contact UNIC if you're interested in further usage or implementation of this programme.