Science communication – a course with outreach

Innovative Projektidee

The project offers a comprehensive science communication course open to masters and PhD students in biology with the goal to teach the skills to effectively communicate their research to people other than the scientific community. By using innovative and experimental training methods, students immerse themselves into various media, will be engaged to find their own niche in the world of science communication, and learn how to present their projects during a mini-science-festival. The project aims to connect the communication possibilities and experts already present at the university with the students. This will not only strengthen the students' communication skills, but also their awareness of science and its place in society. Among other resources, this course profits from a collaboration with the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich and the platform it offers.

Mehrwert für die Studierenden und die Lehre

Students learn how to culture a dialog between scientists and the lay public while also developing transferable communication skills to widen and diversify their curricula. They will come to know a variety of different media in single day workshops, and will develop their own science communication project using a medium of their choice. A mini-science-festival will be used as a platform to present the course project, and to bridge the gap between researchers and the public. As it is an interdisciplinary project, it can be potentially transferred across all faculties as a blueprint course.