Could using naked boobs help attract people’s attention to science? The Tumblr blog Boobs for Science has just proved it’s no joke. It asks volunteers to send photos of themselves naked or wearing underwear, attaching a scientific statement of their choice. Some pictures are then published together with a concise scientific explanation on the chosen topic. The initiative was born in Italy, where the parent blog Tette per la Scienza has already made a splash and the Facebook page has gathered more than 20,000 fans since late October 2014. Read more […]
Science is more politicised than ever. And its communication, in an increasingly diverse media environment, has become highly complex, often relying on dozens of experts in a single institution alone. As a result, science communicators need new management qualifications such as governance and controlling, public affairs and crisis management, risk communication and public engagement. It is about time that science communication training programmes catch up with the new science context. This is why, in September 2014, the first students will attend the newly launched undergraduate course in Science Communication at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (RWU), in Kleve, Germany. Read more […]
What can a conference like this one bring to you? Those among our readers who have a sweet tooth will agree that such events can be compared to the cherry on the cake of academic life. Once every two years, it is time to enjoy a stimulating flow of discussions. Participants are guaranteed to have fruitful encounters with other people from various horizons. They may not be like-minded but, at least, share similar concerns about European science, policy or science communication. This is what ESOF 2014 is about! Read more […]
Anne Glover currently serves as Chief Scientific Adviser to the President, European Commission. She is also a Scottish biologist and professor of molecular biology and cell biology at the University of Aberdeen, UK. She was previously the first ever Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland, between 2006 and 2011. We present here an exclusive Skype interview of Anne Glover with the EuroScientist. In this interview, Glover talks about the art of providing science policy advice to policy makers, using evidence-base… Read more […]
A Danish research project on the so-called Nordic diet has raised concern about new trends in the way science is being communicated to the wider public, through untimely PR campaigns. The example of the OPUS Research Centre at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, stands out. This centre aims to investigate whether public health is likely to improve in Denmark, by renewing the Danish culinary culture. The trouble is that it started its promotional activities before any research findings had been published. Read more […]
Sharing practices build the essence of science. In the process they generate two important “Rs” for scientists: recognition and reputation. This trend has been exacerbated by an increase scientific activity. This means they have the potential for enhancing the sharing practices associated with the scientific endeavour. Ultimately, this trend will also have an impact on the way research is translated into innovation, albeit at the cost of enhanced collaboration and at the detriment of competition. Read more […]
In most universities there is little incentive for academics to blog. It is therefore somewhat surprising that an increasing number of academics are taking it up. We realised that there is surprisingly little work done on academic blogging. We therefore started exploring which academics were blogging and what they are blogging about. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
