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Science Communication: Sharing Knowledge and Creating Connections

Explore the tools and methods to communicate your research to the public, develop citizen awareness, and learn about the benefits of making your research accessible.

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CIVIS focus area
Society, culture, heritage
Open to
  • Phd
  • PhD candidates/students
Field of studies
  • Art, Design and Media
  • Business and Management
  • Computer Science and IT
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Agriculture
  • Law
  • Medicine and Health
  • Natural Sciences and Mathematics
  • Social Science and humanities
  • Environmental sciences, Urbanism, Geography
Type
  • Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP)
Course dates
25 September 2024 - 12 February 2025

The society of knowledge requires fluid communication between knowledge producing institutions and its publics. Knowledge of the main development paths of scientific - technical research - and of its main risks and benefits - as well as access to the relevant research conducted in the social sciences and the humanities are a fundamental element of our contemporary culture, and the existence of specialized communicators is therefore essential.

In addition, the aim of this program is to acquire and improve the skills necessary for professional development in the field of social dissemination of scientific knowledge, R&D management, i.e. institutional scientific dissemination of public or private research centers, promotion of scientific activity, knowledge transfer or scientific journalism.

Main topics addressed

  • History of science and science in popular culture
  • Citizen science
  • Writing about science
  • Virtual museums of science and technology
  • Tools for science communication, podcast, video, images composition, etc
  • Use of social networks and collaborations

Learning outcomes

  • Autonomous Learning
  • Problem recognition and analysis
  • Communicate knowledge area specific and general information clearly and effectively
  • Capacity of analysis and synthesis
  • Creativity
  • The ability to document reports with reliable information from historical sources
  • Placing scientific results in a larger narrative structure

 

Dates: 25 September 2024 - 12 February 2025 Total workload: 180 hours
Format: Blended ECTS: 6*
Location: Brussels, Belgium Language: English (C1)

Contact: leticia.martinez.garcia@ulb.be

*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Physical mobility

The physical mobility part will be running from the 25 November to 29 November 2024, in Universite libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.

During the mobility week, participants will be able to attend lectures on social media, writing about science and scientific images, which will be combined with roundtables and other site visits around Brussels.

Virtual part

The virtual component of the course will be running from 25 September to 12 February 2025. 

- Participants will be registered in the CIVIS Moodle Platform, where they will have access to the course calendar, the link to the meeting, as well as the before and after literature. The work requested by the lecturers will also be described there.

- All lectures will take place on Wednesdays from 15:00 to 17:00 CET. The programme of the virtual component merged as follows:

  • 25th September 2024: Infoday
  • 27th September 2024: European Researchers Night
  • 2nd October 2024: "Science communication: a perspective of the field beyond outreach"
  • 9th October 2024: "Science in Popular culture"
  • 16th October 2024: Podcast Workshop: “Introduction to the podcast elements”
  • 23th October 2024: Podcast Workshop: “Introduction to the podcast elements- Audacity II”(UAM) 1 hour + 1h scientific images
  • 30th October 2024: Podcast Workshop: “Planning your podcast”
  • 6th November 2024: Video Workshop: “Introduction to the audiovisual language”
  • 13th November 2024: Video Workshop: “Shooting your film”
  • 20th November 2024: Video Workshop: “Shooting your film II”
  • 25th November 2024: Mobility week in Brussels
  • 4th December 2024: Video Workshop: “Editing”
  • 11th December 2024: Video Workshop: “Editing II”
  • 18th December 2024: Museums of Science and Technology
  • 8th January 2025: Activities open to the general public I
  • 15th January 2025: Activities open to the general public II
  • 22nd January 2025: Activities open to the general public III
  • 29th January 2025: Podcast Workshop: “Feedback Session”
  • 5th February 2025: Video Workshop: “Feedback Session”
  • 12th February 2025: Project presentations

Requirements

This course is open to PhD's students enrolled in CIVIS member universities.

- A C1 level in English is required to enable students to follow the course.

- Additional desirable skills in order to follow the course:

  • Autonomous Learning
  • Problem recognition and analysis
  • Communicate knowledge area specific and general information clearly and effectively
  • Capacity of analysis and synthesis
  • Creativity
  • The ability to document reports with reliable information from historical sources
  • Placing scientific results in a larger narrative structure

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

Students from CIVIS’ strategic partner universities in Africa cannot apply for participation in this course.

Application process

Send your application by filling in the online application form by 28 April 2024. 

  • CV 
  • Motivation letter
  • Research project outlines

In addition to the above as far as the evalution is concerned applicants are required to: 

  • To understand the usefulness of communicating science to a variety of publics
  • To analyse models of science communication (including in the context of citizen science) and how to apply them
  • Acquire theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in the production of written and oral texts on scientific topics aimed at the general public
  • Acquire skills in the organisation of science communication events aimed at the public
  • Acquire the theoretical basis and practical skills to facilitate the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge and expertise between people with different professional backgrounds
  • Acquire the techniques of popularising science in the audiovisual media and social networks
  • Foster interdisciplinary debates and cultural exchange between students from different CIVIS universities.

Apply now

Assessment

Participants must attend at least 70% of seminars and workshops of the program and hand the practical work required from the lecturers to obtain the certificate of attendance and the credits.

On top of this, participants will be organized in pairs for a final project. This final project entitles different practical products, that is a podcast, video or interview, and a theoretical approach/reflection to it, a communication plan. The evaluation will go as follows:

  • 50% for attendance and delivery of practical work (minimum 70% attendance)
  • 50% for the final project (only to be evaluated if the participants reach the minimum of attendance)

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

GDPR Consent

The CIVIS alliance and its member universities will treat the information you provide with respect. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information on our privacy practices. By applying to this course, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

  • Dr. Marc Vanholsbeek, Université libre de Bruxelles - Department of Information and Communication Science (Faculty of Letters, Translation and Communication).

Marc Vanholsbeeck holds a PhD in communication studies (scholarly communication and research evaluation) and has been training researchers at Université Libre de Bruxelles in science communication and media training for several years. He has taught speech skills and public debate to the students of the Master in communication studies at ULB. Marc has extensive experience in the scientific environment, as well as in communication training in a variety of professional settings.

 

  • Dr. Ingrid van MarionUniversité libre de Bruxelles

Ingrid van Marion holds a PhD in Clinical Neuroscience and has a master's degree in science communication. She is a researcher at Université Libre de Bruxelles, working to create the Belgian Pandemic Intelligence Network. Her research interests include knowledge brokering, evidence-based policymaking and Communities of Practice. She is co-promoting the creation of BE.SciComm, a Belgian science communication association, fostering interaction between education, academic research and professional practices. 

 

  • Dr. David Domingo, Université libre de Bruxelles - Department of Information and Communication Sciences (Faculty of Letters, Translation and Communication)

David Domingo is Chair of Journalism at the Université libre de Bruxelles. His research explores the adoption of technological innovations in journalism, the role of social networks in shaping the public sphere, and the relationship between scientists, journalists and citizens. He is member of the research laboratory LaPIJ on journalistic practices and identities

 

  • Dr. Mircea Sava, University of Bucharest - Department of Journalism (Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies)

Mircea Sava holds a PhD in Communication Studies, with a thesis on Popular Science. His research interests focus on the relations between popular culture and the public communication of science, investigating how popular science can be integrated as an efficient tool for science communication. He is also currently Director of Communications and Public Relations at the University of Bucharest, where he develops various science communication campaigns.

 

  • Dr. Mihnea Dobre, University of Bucharest - The Humanities division of the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB-Humanities)

Mihnea Dobre is Academic Coordinator of the ICUB-Humanities. He is a historian of philosophy and science, working mainly on the early modern period. His research focuses on the relations between philosophy, science, and religion in the early modern period, but branches out to new scholarly approaches (Digital Humanities) and different ways of communication and dissemination or research results (Open Science). Dobre is book review editor at the "Centaurus," the Journal of the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS).

 

  • Paloma Banderas Bielicka, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/ Filmociencia.

Graduate in Physics (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM), Director of Photography (Escuela de Cinematografía y Audiovisual de la Comunidad de Madrid, ECAM) and Expert in Public Communication and Science Dissemination (UAM). She worked in the field of Nanotechnology for three years, from 2005 to 2008, before deciding to work in the audiovisual world. Since 2008, he has worked as a technician in the lighting and camera department on numerous short films, television and advertising pieces. She has also worked for three years, from 2016 to 2018, as an expert in science communication at the Scientific Culture Unit of the Autonomous University of Madrid. She currently works as a project manager at Filmociencia, bringing together her two passions: film and science.

 

  • Luis Gómez Juanes, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/ Filmociencia

Luis G. Juanes is a filmmaker and screenwriter with a degree from the Escuela de Cinematografía de la Comunidad de Madrid (ECAM), a degree in Physics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and an expert in Public Communication and Science Dissemination (UAM). Luis is the author of several audiovisual projects for television and cinema, with selections in international festivals such as Barcelona, Thessaloniki or Moscow. In the scientific field, he has worked in a laboratory of new materials applied to renewable energies. As a physicist, communicator and educator, he has designed educational projects for the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN) and the National Museum of Science and Technology (MUNCYT), among others.

 

  • Alejandra Goded, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Graduated in astrophysics, Alejandra works at the Tenerife’s Science and Cosmos Museum leading the dissemination strategy. She participates in European educational projects with scientific activities, adapted to school curriculum encouraging vocations and the critical spirit. Alejandra also coordinates “Planeta Ciencias” a science dissemination platform that offers camps, workshops and trips for groups to learn about science in a practical and innovative way.

 

  • Dr. Anastasia DoxanakiNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens

She has a degree in History and Archaeology from the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Ioannina and an MA degree in Museum Studies from the University College London, UK. She has also a PhD in Museum Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. For her graduate and PhD studies she was supported by the Greek State Scholarship Foundation. Her research interests are on archaeological museums, museums of science and technology, university museums, visitor studies, and cultural policy.

 

  • Dr. Christos Papatheodorou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

He received a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Computer Science, both from the Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. In 2002 he joined the Dept. of Archives and Library Sciences, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece. In 2020 he joined the Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. His research interests include Digital Humanities, Metadata interoperability, Digital Curation and Preservation,

e-Science, Evaluation of Digital Libraries and Information Services, Personalized access to Digital Libraries and Internet, User Modeling and Web Mining. He is Editor of the International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies

 

  • Dr. Carmen RodriguezUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid

Carmen Rodríguez López holds a degree in Political Science and Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and a PhD from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). She has carried out pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research stays at Boğazici University (Istanbul) and has taught at Istanbul Technical University on the formation of the Republic of Turkey. In Spain since 2006, she has been a contract researcher at the Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos of the UAM and lecturer in the undergraduate studies of the University of London International Programmes, under the academic direction of the London School of Economics, taught in Spain by the Madrid Management Center, in the areas of Comparative Politics and European Union Politics and Policies. At the Complutense University of Madrid she has been Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science III in the area of Political Geography. Currently, she is a lecturer in the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies and Oriental Studies at the UAM.