Who wants to be a citizen scientist? Identifying the potential of citizen science and target segments in Switzerland

Driven by the proliferation of digital media, citizen science – the involvement of non-scientists in scientific research – represents one of the most important recent developments in science communication as it brings science and the public closer together. So far, however, citizen science projects have mostly attracted people that are highly educated, mostly male and already have very positive attitudes towards science. Based on nationally representative survey data (N = 1051), our study explores the potential of citizen science in Switzerland. Using regression analysis, we show that attitudes towards science are significant antecedents of respondents’ interest in participating in citizen science – but that gender and education are not. In addition, latent class analysis identifies five segments, representing over one-third of the Swiss population, who are interested in citizen science and could potentially be engaged: ‘Free-Timers’, ‘Senior Sciencephiles’, ‘Young Sciencephiles’, ‘Intrigued Adolescents’ and ‘Fully Employed Parents’. Additional description suggests that previously overlooked segments are best addressed online via YouTube or offline in zoos or botanical gardens. Overall, our analysis suggests that citizen science’s potential is far higher than previous projects were able to realize

French Science Communication on YouTube: A Survey of Individual and Institutional Communicators and Their Channel Characteristics

Science videos on YouTube attract millions of viewers each month, but little is known about who the content producers are, how they work and what their motivations and qualifications are. Here, we analyze the characteristics of 622 French YouTube science channels and 70,795 science videos in French, and complement this analysis with a survey of 180 of these youtubers. We focus on three questions: who are the science communicators (sociodemographics, resources, and goals), what are the characteristics of their channels, and are there differences between institutional and non-institutional communicators. We show that French science communicators on YouTube are mostly young men, highly qualified and usually talking about their topic of expertize. Many of them do not earn enough money to make a living out of this activity and have to use personal money to run their channels. At the same time, many are not interested in making this activity their main source of income. Their main goal is to share science and stimulate curiosity, as opposed to teach and entertain. While a small number of channels account for most of the views and subscribers, together they are able to cover a lot of scientific disciplines, with individuals usually focusing on a couple of fields and institutions talking about more diverse subjects. Institutions seem to have less success on YouTube than individuals, a result visible both in the number of subscribers and engagement received in videos (likes and comments). We discuss the potential factors behind this discrepancy, such as the lack of personality of institutional channels, the high number of topics they cover or the fact that institutions usually have an additional goal compared to individuals: to present and promote the institution itself. A video version of this article has been recorded and made available here: https://stephanedebove.net/youtube</jats:p

Multiple query optimization using a gate-based quantum computer

Quantum computing promises to solve difficult optimization problems in chemistry, physics and mathematics more efficiently than classical computers. However, it requires fault-tolerant quantum computers with millions of qubits; a technological challenge still not mastered by engineers. To lower the barrier, hybrid algorithms combining classical and quantum computers are used, where quantum computing is only used for those parts of computation that cannot be solved efficiently otherwise. In this paper, we tackle the multiple query optimization problem (MQO), an important NP-hard problem in database research. We present an implementation based on a scheme called quantum approximate optimization algorithm to solve the MQO on a gate-based quantum computer. We perform a detailed experimental evaluation of our implementation and compare its performance against a competing approach that employs a quantum annealer – another type of quantum computer. Our implementation shows a qubit efficiency of close to 99%, which is almost a factor of 2 higher than the state-of-the-art implementation. We emphasize that the problems we can solve with current gate-based quantum technology are fairly small and might not seem practical yet compared to state-of-the-art classical query optimizers. However, our experiments on using a hybrid approach of classical and quantum computing show that our implementation scales favourably with larger problem sizes. Hence, we conclude that our approach shows promising results for near-term quantum computers and thus sets the stage for a challenging avenue of novel database research

Science in the Swiss public: the state of science communication and public engagement with science in Switzerland

Science communication and public engagement with science have repeatedly been called for in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, die Swiss Academies of the Arts and Sciences have set up an expert group to assess the state of science communication in Switzerland, and to provide recommendations for how to improve it. The expert group report is based on a comprehensive review of the available interdisciplinary scholarship analyzing science communication and public engagement with science in Switzerland. Selectively, it also incorporates original data, international findings, and secondary analyses where little or no published scholarly work was available. The report covers a wide range of facets of science communication and public engagement in Switzerland, from public attitudes towards science over individuals and organizations engaging in science communication and engagement formats to news and social media representations of science. On this basis, it formulates 20 recommendations for improving science communication in Switzerland

Science communication scholars use more and more segmentation analyses: Can we take them to the next level?

Science communication scholars are publishing more and more segmentation analyses as they further our understanding of different audiences and their characteristics. They follow different aims, are therefore difficult to compare and do not lend themselves to more generalisable and theoretical knowledge production. Our field has the potential to follow a demand for more systematic efforts by taking advantage of our high-quality representative data sets focusing on public perceptions of science. Beforehand, however, science communication scholars using segmentation analyses have to identify common goals and overcome a number of hurdles concerning variable selection, methodological approaches, and transparency. Ultimately, a collaborative and systematic application of segmentation analyses could result in truly relevant insights for our field

Draft Chapter – Science and the Swiss Public: Science-related Perceptions and Sources of Information in Switzerland

"Science and the Swiss Public" is an Excerpt from of the Upcoming Expert Group Report “Science in Public: The State of Science Communication and Public Engagement with Science in Switzerland”, to be published in 2021 by the Expert Group “Communicating Sciences and Arts in Times of Digital Media” of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. Readers are Invited to Provide Feedback as Outlined on the First Pages of the Preprint