The German
Embassy hosts its first Symposium on Science Communication
The Embassy of
Germany in India hosted its first symposium on Science Communication on 7th
November, 2017 in New Delhi. The theme of the event was Bringing Science to People, which emphasizes the need for increasing
efforts to promote and improve science communication in the country.
The conference
was an amalgam of two sessions. The first was a keynote lecture by Dr. Carsten Konneker,
Editor in Chief of Spektrum der Wissenschaft,
which is the German edition of the popular science magazine Scientific
American. It was followed by a panel discussion on “Exploring the secrets of
successful science communication” where science communication experts from
India and Germany shared their experiences and views on recent advances in this
field offering some tips to their peers in India.
Jasper Weick,
Deputy Chief of Mission of the German Embassy in India highlighted areas in
which the two countries share mutual alliances. These include defense,
education, combating terrorism, piracy and climate change, and most
importantly, Science and Technology. He said that, “in 1950s, Germany assisted
India in setting up the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, now Chennai,
along with several other universities and institutes that has contributed to
the growth of India”. Scientists invest money, labor, and intellect in making
new findings, which at times becomes difficult for them to communicate to the
society. He added that, “since the last few years, a new field – Science
Communication has emerged, which aims to bridge the gap between scientists and
the community”. This knowledge will educate public about the work that
scientists do. It will also bring society’s problems to the scientists so that
they can proactively work to address their concerns.
With this
theme in the limelight, Dr. Carsten Konneker delivered a keynote lecture on
“Science Communication in the digital age”, where he talked about the latest
and popular means of science communication used throughout the world. Science
journalists have long been using newspapers, magazines, radio, and to some
extent, television for science communication. In recent times, modes like
science café, science slam, children’s university, open house, science
blogging, podcasts, YouTube channel, and citizen science have gained
popularity. All these means of communicating science fall under one umbrella –
Digital Science Communication. “Journalists may be loosing grounds in print
media but are gaining a lot of momentum in the digital space”, believes Dr.
Konneker.
Science café
is similar to a regular coffee shop in many ways. People chat, sip coffee and
enjoy their evening. In a science café however, there will also be a scientist
who will engage the public and try to explain them scientific concepts in an
interesting manner. The public can ask questions, share views, and request
future meetings. This helps the public to connect to science and to scientists.
A science slam
is like science theatre. A scientist performs on stage and explains
difficult-to-understand scientific concepts through singing, dancing, enacting,
and talking. After the show, the audience can engage with scientists and get to
know their creative and funny side. A science slam named Euraxess was announced
in India in the month of September this year. It invited scientists, students,
and teachers to present a science topic of their interest and showcase their
science communication skills. Science slams have a long history. In the early
18th century, scientists used to conduct Electric theatres where they would explain science to the lay
audience in an interesting and engaging manner.
A children’s
university or open house is a means of encouraging young kids to pursue
science. Leading universities invite kids to see their laboratories and
interact with faculty. In most cases, this is accompanied by a lecture for
children to increase their spirit of inquiry and motivate them to pursue
science. Many institutes in India including Translational Health Science and
Technology Institute in Haryana, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai conduct open houses on a
regular basis.
Another
upcoming means of science communication is Blogging. Anyone can start writing a
blog. It can be on any topic – travel, food, history, language, finance,
politics, or science. Most leading science journalists in the world own a
science blog. It is free and easy to use. They write articles, share video and
audio files on new, interesting, and happening science topics. Some journalists
also produce 2-3 minutes long audio clips on science topics, which are known as
Podcasts. They are uploaded on the Internet and can be shared via WhatsApp, twitter or Facebook. These
help to increase awareness for science in the community. According to Alexander
Waschkau, a psychologist and podcaster, “producing podcasts is low cost and easy and
can be a great way to engage with public provided that the information is presented
in an interesting way with a unique style and format”. He started a podcast and
TV show named Hoaxilla with his wife Alexa in Germany. Past episodes include
investigations into how the Titanic sank, what are vampires and chemtrails.
Scientists and
journalists these days, also record science videos on their smartphones and
upload them on YouTube. Derek Muller, an Australian-Canadian science
communicator for example, owns a YouTube channel with millions of subscribers. Anyone
can upload videos on YouTube. It is free and user-friendly. The Government of
India is also planning to set up 24-hour science news YouTube Channel, which
will be live soon.
An absolutely
novel and one-of-its-kind way of communicating science to public is Citizen
Science. In this method, both scientists and people from the community register
themselves on a website. Scientists put up projects and the public voluntarily
engages in these scientific endeavors. For example, testing the purity of water
samples from lakes. The scientist will help the public in collecting samples, comparing
and sorting, analyzing them, recording results, presenting data and publishing
mini papers. This will educate public at the same time. If people in an area
get to know that their lakes are polluted, they will look for solutions to clean
them. They can approach scientists to find ways to accomplish this task. There
is a citizen science website in India too. It is called – India Biodiversity
Portal. “This strategy helps to bridge science, society, and policy”, believes
Dr. Anett Ritcher from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research,
who leads the Citizen Science strategy 2020 in Germany.
Many means of
science communication are available globally but the penetration of science
education amongst the public doesn’t meet expectations”, said Dr. Konneker. According
to him, training scientists to communicate their findings in an easy layman
language should be the first step in this direction. At the same time, journalists
must also be trained to understand science and experimental methods. Universities
must mandate a course on science writing so that researchers are exposed to
communicating science at an early age, he said.
Dr. Ramaseshan
Ramachandran, an eminent science journalist formerly with national daily The Hindu agreed with Dr. Konneker on
these points. According to him, science journalists act as nodes for connecting
scientists with the society. They help public to form informed opinions and
arrive at conclusions on science-based issues. Since India is a diverse mix of people
from different ethnic groups, societal beliefs, socioeconomic status, and
educational background, journalists have an added responsibility of being
analytical and critical of their reporting. He asserted that the coverage of
science must increase in Indian media, which will help to overcome scientific
mistrust among the society. The scientists must contribute to achieving this
goal by being more willing to engage with journalists and accepting their deadlines
and other constraints of work culture. At the institutional level, he said,
there must be a proactive Public Relations team, an incentive for scientists to
engage with the society, updated webpages and mandatory contracts for scientists
to contribute to programs of public outreach.
Panel
discussion at the Symposium on Science Communication held at the German
Embassy, New Delhi.
(Left to
Right) Dr. Radhika Mittal (media sociologist and communication strategist), Dr.
Alexander Waschkau (psychologist and podcaster), Heike Mock (Director of German
Academic Exchange ServiceDAAD India and moderator), Dr.
Ramaseshan Ramachandran (science journalist) and Dr. Anett Ritcher (Citizen
Science strategist 2020, Germany).