Earlier this week SoCoBio DTP 2nd-year students attended a Science Communication Summer School, hosted at the University of Portsmouth. This two-day event aims to help students develop their communication skills—particularly in sharing their research with non-expert stakeholders and public audiences.
The sessions were highly interactive and delivered by media and public engagement experts from Portsmouth University and Deep South Media. Students explored a wide range of creative approaches to science communication, working in small groups to:
- Practice interview techniques
- Get creative with crayons to produce storybooks explaining their science to young audiences
- Learn how to design inclusive public engagement activities
- Create a Pod Cast
There are countless ways to communicate science and connect with diverse audiences, and this summer school gave students hands-on experience with many of them. It was fantastic to see student’s enthusiasm and creativity in action!
A huge thank you to all those involved in the organisation and delivery of this summer school: From the University of Portsmouth – Jo Fairwood (event manager); Dr Vincent Adams (Research stories workshop leader); Chris Wood, Liz Holford, Robyn Montague, Dr Christina Philippou (Online Media workshop leaders); Dr Jen Gupta and Dr Hannah Coombs (Public Engagement workshop leaders), plus James Tourgout and Ed Baker from Deep South Media.
One student attending the summer school said,
‘What made this summer school so enjoyable was the passion of the people speaking in each session. My main takeaway is the breadth of outlets you can have for your science and the support available to take advantage of these outlets too. I especially enjoyed a session where we represented our projects as stories, a skill I aim to use to make myself better at communicating my research in a more relatable way to others outside of academia.’
