15 research outputs found

    How much science does an ordinary citizen need to function in modern society?

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    Toss Gascoigne is a consultant in the area of strategy, communication, training and event management in the broad area covered by research and education at the tertiary level. He is a co-founder and Life Member of Australian Science Communicators, and the inaugural President of the international Public Communication of Science and Technology Network (PCST). He is a former Executive Director for Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS) and Council for the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS), peak councils representing Australians working in research, education and practice. He devised and organised 'Science meets Parliament’, which is now in its 15th year

    Communication skills workshop

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    Abstract This workshop is a practical guide to anyone who has to talk about his or her research. We will address questions like: Who is the audience? What do they want to know? What problem are you tackling, and what progress have you made? How can you get across the main points in a minute, a page, or in 140 characters? The workshop is highly practical, with open discussions, quick tips, and new techniques. Exercises are videotaped and played back, so participants can see where they do well and also see areas of potential improvement. And best of all, the lessons can be taken back to the classroom, for passing on to students! Objectives - To raise awareness about the importance of communicating your research - To understand the importance of considering the audience - To develop skills in communicating your research concisely and in plain English to a variety of audiences, including the media Workshop description There will be 2 x 90 minute workshops with 25 participants each (one morning and one afternoon). Half of these places will be available for ACSME registrants and the other half will be reserved for Faculty of Science academics from UQ. The UQ Faculty of Science is sponsoring the workshop so it is free to participants. Biographies of workshop leaders Jenni Metcalfe (BEd, BBusCom, MSc) is director of econnect. She has expertise in the fields of journalism, writing, publishing, community engagement, and in developing and implementing communication and interpretative strategies. She has a background in science, education and journalism. Jenni was president of Australian science communicators in 2005–07. Jenni has been a science communicator since 1989. Toss Gascoigne (BA, DipEd) is interested in the nexus between researchers, policy-makers and the media. He is a former executive director for fasts and chass, peak councils representing Australians working in research, education and practice. He devised and organised 'science meets parliament’. Today he runs workshops (with econnect) on communication: planning communication, media skills, using new media, and presenting science to different publics. These are held across Australia and internationally and have a focus on audience

    Is science communication its own field?

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    The present comment examines to what extent science communication has attained the status of an academic discipline and a distinct research field, as opposed to the common view that science communication is merely a sub-discipline of media studies, sociology of science or history of science. Against this background, the authors of this comment chart the progress science communication has made as an emerging subject over the last 50 years in terms of a number of measures. Although discussions are still ongoing about the elements that must be present to constitute a legitimate disciplinary field, we show here that science communication meets four key elements that constitute an analytical framework to classify academic disciplines: the presence of a community; a history of inquiry; a mode of inquiry that defines how data is collected; and the existence of a communications network

    Pandem-icons — exploring the characteristics of highly visible scientists during the Covid-19 pandemic

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    The Covid-19 pandemic escalated demand for scientific explanations and guidance, creating opportunities for scientists to become publicly visible. In this study, we compared characteristics of visible scientists during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic (January to December 2020) across 16 countries. We find that the scientists who became visible largely matched socio-cultural criteria that have characterised visible scientists in the past (e.g., age, gender, credibility, public image, involvement in controversies). However, there were limited tendencies that scientists commented outside their areas of expertise. We conclude that the unusual circumstances created by Covid-19 did not change the phenomenon of visible scientists in significant way

    Una instantánea de la ciencia en los medios de comunicación en Australia

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    En Australia, la globalización, la comunicación a través de la red y la concentración de los medios en manos de un número reducido de propietarios, afectan a la cobertura periodística de la ciencia. Los científicos tienen la oportunidad de lograr la cobertura periodística de sus trabajos en la prensa de calidad y en la radio. Su acceso a la televisiones es difícil ya que éstas prefieren las noticias que mezclan información y entretenimiento a las que son importantes. Esto no es más que el reflejo de un cambio cultural de los medios de comunicación, que ha ido ocurriendo durante los últimos quince años

    Career support for researchers: Understanding needs and developing a best practice approach

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    A new ACOLA report released on 15 January finds that Australian researchers like their work. The report which is based on the findings from 1,203 participants who participated in an online survey, found that the best thing about a career in research is working on interesting and important issues, and working in a stimulating environment. However the survey also found the completion of a PhD is followed by a series of short term contracts and an intensely competitive employment environment. The project was funded by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and aimed to identify the pressure points in the research career pathway and identify possible solutions
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