spring 2015
BIO-8007 Communicating Science Module 2 – Coping with media - 1 ECTS

Application deadline

Deadline for registration/applying for the course: 19th December 2014

Type of course

A multi-disciplinary course for PhD students, researchers, open for all.

Admission requirements

Prerequisites: None

Maximum 20 participants

Use this application form to register on the course and send it to Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at BFE Faculty, University of Tromsø: Admission PhD Courses


Course content

Communicating science to a variety of audiences is an important skill all researchers have to learn. Whether you want to tweet about your current research project, create a podcast, give a talk to peers at a scientific conference, give an interview for the media or explaining your research to a school class, science communication is part of a researchers everyday life.

Day 1 of this course is a workshop led by the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) in partnership with Arctic Frontiers and the High North Academy and will introduce participants to learning how to effectively communicate their science focusing on two main parts:

1) Using Social Media to Communicate your research: Using twitter, blogs or podcasts are fun and effective ways to communicate your research. In this part of the workshop, we will be talking about how you can do this and what possibilities are out there. Speakers for this part will be

- Tom Fries (Arctic Council Secretariat, Norway): Presentation title to be confirmed

- Katrin Leinweber (University of Konstanz, Germany): "Knowledge Communication? Back to the Ears! An Introduction to Podcasting.

2) Media Training: This part will introduce participants to insights on how to communicate their science to the media. It will also introduce them to the work of journalists, how they find a good scientific story and how they condense the complicated scientific research into a language that is understandable to the general public. Speakers for this part will be experts in journalism/ communication and journalists.

Day 2 will be a writing workshop and interview training.


Objectives of the course

After the course the students should have knowledge about:
-the wide variety of popular scientific communication arenas, their possibilities and their limitations
-reflecting about the role of the research community in public science communication
-understanding the journalists working methods and realities.
-how the university can facilitate media contacts

Skills:
-To be able to write a popular scientific text for publication
-To be able to give an interview to a camera-team
-To know how to package a message to the media
-practical skills in photography

General competence:
-To popularize research, and to adjust the message according to the audience
-To communicate research in a form of a story with a clear message and structure
-To be able to choose the right media to the right story, and to know how to create interest for the story


Language of instruction and examination

English. However, the text can be written and the interview can be conducted in Norwegian.

Teaching methods

This will be an intensive 2-day course, with 16 hours of teaching (lectures, practical assignments and group work). All the participants will produce their own text and an interview.

Assessment

Delivery of a popularized science text. Pass/Fail

Recommended reading/syllabus

Important dates:

Course duration: Week 4, workshop over two days, 8:30am to 16:00 pm.

Deadline for registration/applying for the course: 19 December 2014.

Pre-work instructions will be sent out 9 January 2015.

Deadline for pre-work delivery: 16 January 2015.

Deadline for delivery of popularized science text: 4 February 2015.

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  • About the course
  • Campus: Tromsø |
  • ECTS: 1
  • Course code: BIO-8007