Objectives
To introduce participants to the details of communicating science to non-specialized audiences, including, but not exclusive to, public and private stakeholders, students and teachers, and media professionals. The course will particularly address the design, organisation, implementation and impact assessment of public engagement activities such as exhibitions, science festivals or games. At the end of the course, students should be able to develop and produce small-budget events or products to communicate scientific results and ideas.
Learning outcomes and competences:
At the end of the course, participants should be able to:
- Judge and decide about the appropriate form to communicate a scientific result or idea, defining its objective and target audience;
- Develop the project: define its content, production steps, and budget;
- Understand the process of fundraise;
- Envisage how an event/product is produced;
- Analyse the impact of the activity/product produced.
Type of teaching methods:
Lectures, exercises, group discussions
Compulsory programme:
Participants have to be present 85% of the time, and actively participate in the group discussions and exercises. Additionally, each participant will present a complete science communication project at the end of the course.
This course can give credits to PhD programmes at FCUL or of programmes with partnership from FCUL and other institutions with 6h-7h of contact hours per ECT, as a function of specific requirements. For these students additionally to the exercises done during the week the delivery of a written report done after the course is mandatory. For programmes with less hours of contact per ECT (6h/ECT, getting 6 ECTs from the course) students need to do an additional assignment (summary report). If needed 1 or 2 additional hours of contact may be added. Such report(s) are also advised for other students requesting accreditation of the course in their institutions.
Minimum formation: We require only curiosity about science communication, and interest in learning about producing science communication activities.
Directed to: For (but not limited to) PhD or Master students and Postdocs in any scientific area, as well as other professionals interested in this topic.
General Plan
Course contents:
1. Project development:
Define the project development stages in order to implement a science communication activity. This includes: defining what is to be communicated and to whom, finding the most appropriate media to communicate these ideas to the target audience, and drafting a work plan for the project, including the project requirements in terms of space, a list of potential partners, a preliminary budget and possible funding sources, a schematic production timeline, and outline of a marketing strategy, the definition of outputs and a strategy for impact assessment.
2. Production:
Production is the transformation of the project into the event/product. It includes contacting partners and fundraisers, deciding a location/manufacturer, but also managing teams, collaborating with partners, liaising with suppliers and venues, logistics management etc.
3. Impact assessment:
Learning to use quantitative and qualitative methodologies to analyse public and stakeholder impact, as well as to evaluate output indicators.
4. Visits to museums or science centres
5. Project Presentation
Students are asked to prepare a low-budget science communication project for an event or product to be discussed and presented in class.
6. Role playing
Training for situations that arise during event/product project development, production or assessment. These include meetings and interviews but also other unexpected or unpredictable circumstances.
7. Written assignments to be sent after the course (mandatory for PhD students requiring credits):
- An individual dossier presentation of the project is prepared (which must include input received during presentations in class) as if applying for funding (project, cover letter, etc.)
or
- An individual critical analysis and/or proposal for impact assessment study of one of the venues visited during the course
Funding
Students fees
Partners
n.a.
Fee
Fees: free for 1st year PhD students in Doctoral programmes at FCUL (e.g. Biologia), Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution (BIODIV UL; UP), Biology and Ecology of Global Changes (BEAG UL, UA) and Sustainability Science (UL, several institutions), when the course counts credits for their formation, in which case the delivery of a final report done after the course is mandatory; the course is also free for more advanced PhD students of the BIODIV programme (ULisboa or UPorto); 50 € for more advanced PhD students of cE3c and CIUHCT of other programmes; 80 € for PhD students of the PEERS network (CFE); 125 € for FCUL Master students and unemployed; 180 € for BTI, BI and other PhD students; 250 € for Professional and postdocs.
When the maximum number of students is reached, 10 vacancies will be available for non-paying 1st year PhD students mentioned above, being, by order of preference students from: 1) cE3c; 2) BIODIV (not from cE3c); 3) FCUL (not from cE3c); 4) Sustainability Science (not from cE3c or FCUL); 5) BEAG (not from cE3c or FCUL).
Candidates should fill in the following FORMULARY:
http://inqueritos.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/index.php/482221?lang=pt
This formulary is strictly confidential, as explained in the introduction, and the data are required because the cE3c Advanced Courses are also offered as part of the PRR programme of FCUL.
When filling the formulary mind to:
- FILL ALL THE MANDATORY FIELDS
- UPLOAD CV AND MOTIVATION LETTER, both mandatory; use the names as instructed there
- If you want to resume later SAVE the formulary, otherwise you will need to fill everything again
- At the end SUBMIT the formulary before exiting
For any doubts please contact the cE3c coordinator of the cE3c courses Margarida Matos (mmmatos@fc.ul.pt) and Cristina Luís (cmluis@ciencias.ulisboa.pt)
cmluis@fc.ul.pt
