Image: Workers at RADA Bodles Research Station in Jamaica. ©Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for CABI
20/03/23
Announcement
Join Script’s free research communication webinar series
Speed read
- The research communication webinar is aimed at scientists.
Script is inviting researchers to sign-up for its new research communication training webinar.
The webinar series, first held in February, looks at how researchers can boost their careers through science communication.
The webinar takes place at 2 pm (GMT) on the last Wednesday of every month and is led by Dr Charles Wendo, Training Coordinator for SciDev.Net. You can sign-up for this webinar and subsequent ones here.
Benefits of the research communication webinars
The inaugural webinar launched the new series by exploring how researchers stand to gain by communicating their findings to policymakers and the public.
Advice and tips were also given on how researchers can explain their studies in such a way that their information will be interesting and easily understandable to non-specialists.
The webinar also provided the opportunity to share ideas with other researchers with similar aspirations and ask questions of a panel of experts in the field of science communication.
The session was led by Dr Wendo and attended by (30) Researchers from across Africa.
Improving research communication
SciDev.Net’s Script programme works to improve the communication of science to the general public, policy-makers and other interested groups.
It does this through the delivery of online and offline high-quality training in science communication for scientists, journalists and communication specialists.
Dr Charles Wendo, said, “The free Script training and networking resource has benefited over 6,000 journalists and researchers since it was launched in 2018.
“It has done so by helping them to improve the flow of reliable, research-based scientific information – which ultimately has resulted in stories that have so far reached over 1 million people including policymakers.
“The research communication webinar series is the latest asset in our portfolio of free resources which will further provide researchers with the necessary skills and networking to communicate science effectively.”
Free online science communication courses
As well as the monthly research communication webinars, Script also offers free online courses in science communication. These include Science Communication Skills for Journalists, Media Skills for Scientists and Science Communication Skills for Press Officers.
Script also provides free practical guides and includes advice on aspects such as ‘How to Give a Good Science Talk Anywhere,’ ‘How to Report the Science of COVID-19’ and ‘How to Give a Science Flash Talk.’
The resource is also able to provide bespoke science communication training packages for research organisations and institutions and connect journalists with scientists – and vice versa – through its Script Connect service.
Addressing skills shortage
Dr Wendo added, “A Script scoping study for a Science Media Centre for East Africa conducted in 2020 also identified skills shortage as the main impediment to good science journalism in the region.
“We hope that by offering resources such as the monthly webinar, we can help increase the capacity for science to be communicated more effectively to the public through the media.”