ComSciCon 2015 will be the third in the annual series of Communicating Science workshops for graduate students
Applications are now open for the Communicating Science 2015 workshop, to be held in Cambridge, MA on June 18-20th, 2015!
Graduate students at US institutions in astronomy, and all fields of science and engineering, are encouraged to apply. The application will close on March 1st.
It’s been more than two years since we announced the first ComSciCon worshop here on Astrobites. Since then, we’ve received almost 2000 applications from graduate students across the country, and we’ve welcomed about 150 of them to three national and local workshops held in Cambridge, MA. You can read about last year’s workshop to get a sense for the activities and participants at ComSciCon events.
While acceptance to the workshop is competitive, attendance of the workshop is free of charge and travel support will be provided to accepted applicants.
Participants will build the communication skills that scientists and other technical professionals need to express complex ideas to their peers, experts in other fields, and the general public. There will be panel discussions on the following topics:
- Communicating with Non-Scientific Audiences
- Science Communication in Popular Culture
- Communicating as a Science Advocate
- Multimedia Communication for Scientists
- Addressing Diversity through Communication
In addition to these discussions, ample time is allotted for interacting with the experts and with attendees from throughout the country to discuss science communication and develop science outreach collaborations. Workshop participants will produce an original piece of science writing and receive feedback from workshop attendees and professional science communicators, including journalists, authors, public policy advocates, educators, and more.
ComSciCon attendees have founded new science communication organizations in collaboration with other students at the event, published more than 25 articles written at the conference in popular publications with national impact, and formed lasting networks with our student alumni and invited experts. Visit the ComSciCon website to learn more about our past workshop programs and participants.
Group photo at the 2014 ComSciCon workshop
If you can’t make it to the national workshop in June, check to see whether one of our upcoming regional workshops would be a good fit for you.
This workshop is sponsored by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Colorado Boulder, the American Astronomical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and Microsoft Research.
Cool! I fully any opportunity for scientists to practice their communication skills, we have to know how to tell the average person what is going on in science.