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PARI 2017 - Workshop on Public Awareness of Research Infrastructures

Europe/Berlin
xxx (European Southern Observatory)

xxx

European Southern Observatory

85748 Garching Germany
Description

Public Awareness of Research Infrastructures II

Communicating the importance of science to society

                               

Download the Report on the PARI-2017 workshop (pdf, 0,1 MB)

Tweet about the event using #PARI2017

Scope of the workshop

Science is exciting, enlightening, complex, fundamental, precise, logical, and creative, all at the same time. However, for the public to get in touch with it and understand why it encompasses all these concepts, efforts need to be made to bridge science and society. With this aim, communication teams at research infrastructures work with a range of methods and channels. They make complex information more tangible and disseminate it as broadly as possible so that the public can understand and be engaged.

This conference aims to be a hands-on forum for communication officers and public relations staff to share their experiences and expertise. The aim is that  participants return  home with new ideas for their work, by learning how and with which means  other research institutions are communicating the importance of science and of research infrastructures to society.


Topics include

  • Evaluation of communication activities and impact
  • Public engagement through visitor programmes and exhibitions
  • Unconventional outreach: thinking out of the box
  • Funding for communication outside the known pathways
  • Engaging the scientists
  • Using online social media channels
  • Enhancing collaboration at research campuses, clusters, and projects
  • Branding and visual identity
  • Communicating on a small budget
  • Issues Management and Crisis Communication

History

In 2015 we held the first workshop on Public Awareness of Research Infrastructures. Given its success and very positive feedback from the participants, we are now organising the second edition of PARI. PARI2015 was the 10th of a series of events organised by the ERF-AISBL, the European Association of National Research Facilities. We are glad that the EIROforum joined in for the organisation of PARI2017.

Venue

European Southern Observatory
Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2
85748 Garching
Germany

Registration fee
200€  
(covers coffee breaks, a lunch, and social dinner in Munich's city centre)

Contact

Would you like to be informed about our call for abstracts and deadlines? Don't hesitate to contact us and we will add you to our distribution list.

pari@frm2.tum.de

Organisation

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Please note that there will be a photographer taking pictures at the event, which will be published on the website.

PARI2017 Poster
Contact us
Participants
  • Alexandra Schmidli
  • Alix GUILLAUME
  • Ana Adi
  • Ana Alves
  • ANA BELEN MARTINEZ
  • Ana Noronha
  • andrea lausi
  • Andrea Voit
  • Anna Carolina Principato
  • Anne Purschwitz
  • Barbara Ferreira
  • Ben Senica
  • Birgit Ziller
  • Brian Trench
  • Christian Eistrup
  • Christina Beck
  • Christine Kortenbruck
  • Christopher Buratta
  • Dan Hillier
  • Eleanor Smith
  • Elise Duflou
  • Emelie Hilner
  • Emily Baldwin
  • Erik Arends
  • Fabienne Landua
  • Fabio Mazzolini
  • Francisco Colomer
  • Georgina Maffey
  • Gorana Jerkovic
  • Gordon Squires
  • Guido Thimm
  • Hana Pergl Sustkova
  • Hannelore Hämmerle
  • Hiroko Tsuzuki
  • Ilse van Bemmel
  • Inês Crespo
  • Isabel Bolliger
  • isabelle quinkal
  • James Gillies
  • James Watson
  • Jamie Sloan
  • Janine Fohlmeister
  • Jo Lewis
  • Joost Wesseling
  • Joseph Diamond
  • Joseph Piergrossi
  • João Retrê
  • Juergen Neuhaus
  • Julia Michel
  • Julia Öberg
  • Julie Haffner
  • Karen O'Flaherty
  • Karin Griewatsch
  • Karlijn Spoor
  • Lars Lindberg Christensen
  • Laura Holland
  • Laura Roberts
  • Lenka Petkova
  • Maarten Roos
  • Manfred Andrae
  • Maren Kappe
  • Margit Fábián
  • Mari Keski-Nisula
  • Mariya Lyubenova
  • Marjolein Oorsprong
  • Mark Gallaway
  • Mathias Jäger
  • Mathieu Isidro
  • Michael Raess
  • Michael Vich
  • Michel Claessens
  • Misha Kidambi
  • Mohamed BELHORMA
  • Nada Caud
  • Nicoletta Carboni
  • Oana Sandu
  • Peter Grimley
  • Petra Nieckchen
  • Phill Day
  • Pieke Hoekstra
  • Premysl Velek
  • Richard Hook
  • Rikke Nielsen
  • Ruiz-Zelmanovitch Natalia
  • Ruth Grutzbauch
  • Sandra Dawson
  • Sara Fletcher
  • Sarah Sherwood
  • Sebastian Weisenburger
  • Simon Schmitt
  • SIRA CORDÓN
  • Sophie Tesauri
  • Stefan Swift
  • Stefan Wallner, Bsc
  • Stella Berger
  • Stéphanie Hustache
  • Sérgio Pereira
  • Tania Johnston
  • Terry O'Connor
  • Tutti Johansson Falk
  • Ulrich Marsch
  • Ulrika Steiner
  • Urban Eriksson
  • Ute Gunsenheimer
  • Valeria Foncea
  • Vera Horvath
  • Wibke Borngesser
  • Wolfgang Steffen
  • Yannick LACAZE
  • Ylva Gnosse
    • Guided Tours Garching (near Munich), Germany

      Garching (near Munich), Germany

      85748 Garching Germany
    • Registration & Speed-networking Foyer

      Foyer

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
    • Welcome Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Dr. Jürgen Neuhaus (ERF, FRM II / TUM)
      Dr. Lars Lindberg Christensen (EIROforum, ESO)

      slides
    • Keynote 1: Ana Adi (Quadriga Hochschule Berlin): Science Communication and Success Measurement: frameworks, guidelines and some tips Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
      • 1
        Science Communication and Success Measurement: frameworks, guidelines and some tips Eridanus

        Eridanus

        European Southern Observatory

        85748 Garching Germany
        Successful communication is when measurement is not an afterthought. Successful measurement depends on clarity of terms, purpose and methodology. This talk aims to provide some clarify by making the difference between output, outcome and outtakes and how they can be translated into realistic measures. Other examples will also be provided including a qualitative and quantitative tool for assessing relationships.
        Speaker: Prof. Ana Adi (Quadriga Hochschule Berlin, Germany)
        Slides
    • Keynote 2: Ana Noronha (Ciência Viva): 20 years of public engagement with science Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
      slides
      • 2
        20 years of public engagement with science Eridanus

        Eridanus

        European Southern Observatory

        85748 Garching Germany
        Ciencia Viva is a Portuguese Agency to promote scientific culture, collaborating with scientists, teachers and other educators to engage the public with science. Since 1996, a national network of science centers was created and connected with international networks and intergovernmental research institutions. The engagement of scientists and teachers resulted both from an assertive political priority and the mobilization of the society.
        Speaker: Dr Ana Noronha (Executive Director, Ciência Viva, Portugal)
    • Coffee Break
    • Parallel session 1: Visitor programmes and engaging the youngsters Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Terry O’Connor (STFC)

      • 3
        Collaboration: thinking inside the box
        The beauty of collaborating is that something that is the bread and butter for one team can lead to a whole new way of thinking for another team, and vice versa. Increasing the number of young people coming into physics and engineering with the right skills is a key agenda in the UK. But how do you reach large numbers of young people? Our answer has been threefold: through their parents; through their teachers and by going to where the young people themselves are – online. The public engagement and communications teams are working together on a project to reach more 8-13 year olds – a key decision making age in terms of future career choices. We have also been working with science centres and museums to reach children with their families and parents – the strongest influence of career choice. In this session you will get the chance to share the ideas and stories you have and we’ll discuss how to focus the angle of your story to meet the needs of your audience, especially teachers and parents. And STFC will share our recent stories and projects: running continued professional development training for teachers, producing resources that teachers can use themselves in the classroom, and on increasing our social media presence to focus on science as a positive career choice.
        Speaker: Ms Jo Lewis (STFC)
        Slides
      • 4
        IAstro Júnior – Spreading Science to Younger Generations
        The Science Communication Group at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) promotes science literacy in Astronomy and good practices in the communication of science. Trying to reach new audiences in an unconventional and creative way, we developed several outreach activities, one of them is IAstro Júnior. IAstro Júnior is an outreach activity aimed at children aged 7 to 12 years. This activity was developed from start with the collaboration of the most well-known and prestigious Portuguese youth magazine – Visão Júnior. IAstro Júnior events happen four times a year in two cities in Portugal. In each event a different topic of Astronomy is presented in very short and interactive talks by three researchers of our Institute. At the end of the session, children can place their questions directly to the researchers. Children, who didn´t have the opportunity, or didn´t want to ask questions during the session, are invited to write them and leave them in a box. The questions are answered by our researchers and the answers published in the magazine Visão Júnior. IAstro Júnior events take place at two large Planetariums in Portugal – Planetário Calouste Gulbenkian – Centro Ciência Viva, in Lisbon and Planetário do Porto – Centro de Ciência Viva, in Oporto, reaching, all together, hundreds of children. Besides, IAstro Júnior events and contents are published in the magazine Visão Júnior, reaching more than 18 000 children, parents and teachers throughout the country and abroad. This project enables us to communicate Astronomy to a new, well defined and strategically important target group with the help of skilled professionals, besides involving scientists in the communication and training them with communication skills. Also, IAstro Júnior, through the partnership with magazine Visão Júnior and the Planetariums, allows us to reach and spread IA’s name and visual identity to much wider audiences with a small budget, with benefits for all parties involved. With IAstro Júnior we are promoting Astronomy among younger generations, bridging science to society.
        Speaker: Ana Alves (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço)
      • 5
        The ALBA Open Day, a party for scientists and the general public
        ALBA is the Spanish synchrotron light source. Located near Barcelona, it is a complex of electron accelerators to emit synchrotron light in order to analyse matter at atomic and molecular levels. With eight operational beamlines and three more in construction, it hosts more than 1,300 researchers per year mainly from Spanish institutions but also from abroad. Since 2012, ALBA is celebrating every year the ALBA Open Day, which has become the flagship of the public engagement of the facility. More than 2,000 people are visiting the infrastructure during the day, running out the tickets some weeks before. ALBA becomes a kind of museum just for one day, transforming its beamlines and laboratories into hands-up games or exhibition areas. However, the key of its success relies in the high involvement of the staff (with almost half of them as volunteers). The collaborative organisation has improved the event turning it into a big science party. Some of these activities are a design competition for selecting the image of the event or a music band that consists of scientists and technicians, who cover famous songs for explaining the benefits and curiosities of synchrotron light. In this talk, a review of the activities addressed to the internal staff as well as the visitors will be done with the aim of showing how an event can joint both targets to share their passion for science.
        Speaker: Ms ANA BELEN MARTINEZ (ALBA SYNCHROTRON)
        Slides
      • 6
        How to visit a remote radio-quiet facility spread on 3 continents and 2 hemispheres? The challenging case of the SKA
        When it comes to public access, the SKA presents an interesting set of challenges: it is a distributed facility, spread over three continents – the UK, Australia and South Africa. Not only that, but it is also very remote from many of its funders, spread all over the globe. While the Headquarters are within 30min of a major international airport, both telescopes are some 800 kilometres away from the nearest big city. But even more importantly: both sites need to be kept absolutely free from radio-frequency interference. With no mobile phones, no cameras or modern cars, this means few or no visitors. How does the taxpayer funding it access such a facility? In this talk we will explore the challenges of developing an immersive visitor experience for the SKA, introduce our early concepts and call on the community for input.
        Speaker: Mr Mathieu Isidro (SKA Organisation)
        Slides
      • 7
        'Girls Night Out' at Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
        Women have long been under-represented among those who choose to study and work in the fields of physics and engineering. At Jodrell Bank we are keen to support women and girls who are interested in becoming involved with, or finding out about astrophysics and any area of physics and engineering. A significant number of the Discovery Centre staff are female, a high proportion have degrees in Physics and Engineering – and we know that there is still some way to go in removing sexism and gender bias across the sector. We set up our first Girls Night Out event in 2012, drawing on our own personal experiences of being women in Physics and Engineering in order to try to create something that we would have liked to attend ourselves – an event that we would find enjoyable, informative, inspiring and empowering. Key features of the event include an opening talk from a female scientist or engineer and activities for attendees related to the evening’s theme, wherever possible involving female researchers. Themes of past events have included engineering the Square Kilometre Array, solar physics and hunting for exoplanets with activities such as examining meteorites with female researchers in planetary science. Where possible we use events like the transit of Mercury or summer solstice to make a connection with current research. Feedback from these events tells us how they have been successful in making an impact. They have connected teenage girls with role models currently undertaking research to inspire them to pursue a career in science and have offered a point of engagement for older women who did not follow science as a career but have always harboured a passionate interest. Testimonials speak of ‘inspiration’, a ‘sense of belonging’ and finding ‘people like me’. During this presentation I will outline the successes and challenges we have faced in running this event and our plans for the future.
        Speaker: Dr Ruth Grutzbauch (Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, University of Manchester)
        Slides
      • 8
        Opening new windows on science
        Science opens new windows on the world, but we must open new windows on science if we are to engage hard to reach audiences and improve diversity. Research has the responsibility of addressing the 21st Century’s global challenges in healthcare, security and energy and it will need to draw on the widest possible talent pool to achieve success. STFC is evolving existing programmes and developing a new campaign to increase the aspiration of STEM careers in key audience (8-13-year-olds) and improve the diversity balance of those undertaking post-16 STEM education or training. Research has shown there are a number of established factors contributing to low STEM career aspiration in key groups despite high level of STEM interest. A new communications campaign will address these factors and promote positive examples of team science, encouraging the audience to explore the diverse roles within the science and innovation environment. Its key aim will be to break the “not for me” barrier with regard to STEM career aspirations and take our science to traditionally hard to reach audiences. In this session: • We want to share how the campaign objectives and target audience have been developed using readily available research and insight. • We want to show how we have developed a visual identity for the campaign and used low cost methods to test reactions. • We want to discuss some of the ways we are utilising existing channels and opportunities to roll out the campaign.
        Speaker: Mr Christopher Buratta (UK Science and Technology Facilities Council)
        Slides
    • Parallel session 2: Engaging the scientists Telescopium

      Telescopium

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Sara Fletcher (STFC)

      • 9
        That would have made a really nice story (if we’d known)… (Storytelling at TU Delft)
        **That would have made a really nice story (if we’d known)…** (Storytelling at TU Delft) We had been making news items about awards and new positions and sending out press releases communicating results of certain research for years. But the true wonder and amazement we felt ourselves when hearing about the research and walking through the lab was missing. Also, the scientists were not aware of all the cool research directly around them. They told us how they were always glad to encounter stories about colleagues in the newspaper, to be able to quickly absorb what it is they do. We took it as our call to start something new: a storytelling approach to find | tell | share research stories. Check out our stories of science [here][1] Find out • How we try to get past ugly poster presentations and boring news items (“we had a kick-off yesterday with a large group”) and to tell and share stories • How important good pictures are to carry the stories • How researchers came to appreciate the approach and tell us much more than before • How we realised that there is substantial difference between a scientist’s perception of what to communicate and ours • How we organise our job, using Trello as a story management system and work with 50 story chasers in the Faculty About the speakers: Pieke Hoekstra is manager of communication (pieke.hoekstra@tudelft.nl). Karlijn Spoor is communication advisor (k.spoor@tudelft.nl). Pieke and Karlijn both work at the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences at Delft University of Technology. The end of 2015, they launched a storytelling approach that is starting to resonate very well inside and outside the Faculty. Summary At the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences in Delft, we had been making news items about awards and new positions and sending out press releases for years. But the true wonder and amazement we felt ourselves when hearing about the research and walking through the lab was missing. Also, the scientists were not aware of all the cool research directly around them. Therefore, we started something new: a storytelling approach. With a year of experience now, we will love to share our tips and insights! [1]: http://www.citg.tudelft.nl/storiesofscience
        Speakers: Ms Karlijn Spoor (Delft University of technology), Ms Pieke Hoekstra (Delft University of Technology)
        Slides
      • 10
        Future Scientists Communicating Science
        There is a need for a growing number of motivated people who are able to create a bridge between scientific research and the public, with a strong scientific component and communication skills. Investing and developing these characteristics in science students and future researchers is essential. This contribution addresses a successful, low budget, informal education programme in astronomy that makes use of the practice of science communication as a way to enhance formal science education, stimulate the development of communication skills, and emphasise the importance of science communication in the context of scientific research. Having initially been designed for students in the first cycle of higher education, currently the programme also includes high school students, as well as MSc and PhD students. In addition to these, community members and university professors are also involved. The programme consists of training aimed at students and their involvement in science communication events. In this format, they receive monthly training given voluntarily by researchers in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as by science communication professionals. The knowledge acquired by the students is actively put into practice in periodic public outreach activities, where they have an active role in organising events, interacting with the public and communicating scientific knowledge. The project began in 2009 with 14 students from the Physics course of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Currently, more than seven years since its creation, it has the active participation of 70 students from different areas of knowledge, colleges and universities. With an average enrollment of 2 students per month, it became self-sustained, with more than 250 students that already participated in the programme. This presentation will cover the resources and methodologies applied, framed in a temporal evolution, that led this programme to gain the current dimension. It will be evaluated the relevance of this programme to build a community of young scientists supporting the outreach of the institution, and also to nurture a culture of science communication in the research community.
        Speaker: Mr João Retrê (Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences)
      • 11
        Establishing a new outreach programme
        The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre presents a new challenge for the outreach programme of ESO. The facility presents the exciting opportunity for ESO to deliver more “face-to-face” outreach activities, reaching new audiences, in a variety of ways. Establishing an essentially new outreach programme requires buy-in from the staff on-site, at every level. In this talk I will outline the ways in which we are working together with “non-outreach” staff — from different disciplines and at different stages of their career — to involve them in the development of the project, how we are engaging with staff of varying levels of enthusiasm for this type of outreach, and our plans for developing long-term sustainable engagement with current and future staff.
        Speaker: Ms Tania Johnston (ESO)
        Slides
      • 12
        Attracting and addressing possible new users for large-scale facilities
        Research at large-scale facilities offers fascinating possibilities in all kinds of scientific areas. This becomes visible both in the public and in the scientific community by research results or applications that are being reported in journals, in the web and in other media. - Does this visibility attract new users who have not worked at large-scale facilities before? - Do new users mainly come from working groups that have a tradition of working at large-scale facilities? - How can we address potential users with and without this background? - How can we facilitate the access? Answering these questions includes identifying potential new users and information pathways as well as relevant information for this target group. Over ten years ago, nmi3 and the German Committee Research for Neutrons (KFN) launched a neutron instrument database, the so-called “neutron pathfinder” on the nmi3-website, aiming at the last step of the consideration above, i.e. at facilitating access by making information about neutron instruments in Europe available and searchable. Unfortunately, the project did not run long enough to be fully established. Putting this idea into perspective and discussing it could contribute to the process of attracting new users as well as helping established users.
        Speaker: Dr Karin Griewatsch (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel)
        Slides
      • 13
        Hundreds of scientists, thousands of people, one event: how do you do it?
        Opening up the world of science, its facilities, and its people to the general public and schools on the largest scale has the potential to be a truly inspiring experience that lives long in the memory and promotes a really positive perspective of the science and technological world. In the last two years, in addition to our regular programmes of public engagement, STFC has run four large scale open days at our national facilities, attracting more than 25,000 visitors and some 1,000 staff members. These events open the doors to our experimental facilities and the amazing stories that they yield - from astronomy technology facilities, thermal vacuum chambers, and high performance computing to state-of-the-art engineering facilities, high powered lasers, and particle accelerators. Public Engagement is part of the STFC Royal Charter: we have some incredible stories to tell and a unique way of doing this is by involving our scientists and engineers. For the Open Days scientists and engineers were involved from concept through to project delivery and the resulting ownership of the event by staff ensured their commitment and motivated them to encourage colleagues to engage with a large and diverse audience during some truly vibrant events. The public engagement team support staff in events, making sure that logistics are in place, the right training and guidance has been provided, and staff are confident in their roles. In this manner we maximise the development and delivery time making more effective use of staff time. Staff feedback from such events is overwhelmingly positive, one STEM Ambassador commenting that involvement in the Open Day “...built a team spirit across STFC that I have never felt before, the camaraderie was amazing.” The success of the open days was the result of thorough engagement with our staff and paying close attention to these simple but critical details.
        Speaker: Mr Phill Day (STFC Daresbury Laboratory)
        Slides
    • Conference Dinner: Georgenhof U-Bahn line 6 stop "Giselastraße" (Friedrichstraße 1, 80801 München)

      U-Bahn line 6 stop "Giselastraße"

      Friedrichstraße 1, 80801 München

    • Keynote 3: Michel Claessens (EC, ITER): Is there a future for science communication? Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      In this keynote presentation I will report on general developments and personal experiences related to science communication. I will in particular present activities developed for ITER, which will probably be the biggest research infrastructure worldwide.

      As a multidisciplinary field, science communication has developed remarkably in past years. At practical level, recent evolutions concern social media, museums, communication practices and technology developments. The production of scientific content has also changed as science is now considered as a socially contextualised activity. All these changes are impacting science communication as well.

      Also, science communication has gained a lot in the course of the last decades, in terms of institutional recognition, business activities and professional development.

      But there also hurdles and threats. While opacity, in a technological society, is dangerous, achieving a genuine transparency is impossible. One can also argue that most research institutions are neither doing science communication nor developing ‘public’ relations in the proper sense. Very few R&D organisations can claim of having a science communication/PR strategy free of arrière-pensées.

      • 14
        Is there a future for science communication? Eridanus

        Eridanus

        European Southern Observatory

        85748 Garching Germany
        In this keynote presentation I will report on general developments and personal experiences related to science communication. I will in particular present activities developed for ITER, which will probably be the biggest research infrastructure worldwide. As a multidisciplinary field, science communication has developed remarkably in past years. At practical level, recent evolutions concern social media, museums, communication practices and technology developments. The production of scientific content has also changed as science is now considered as a socially contextualised activity. All these changes are impacting science communication as well. Also, science communication has gained a lot in the course of the last decades, in terms of institutional recognition, business activities and professional development. But there also hurdles and threats. While opacity, in a technological society, is dangerous, achieving a genuine transparency is impossible. One can also argue that most research institutions are neither doing science communication nor developing ‘public’ relations in the proper sense. Very few R&D organisations can claim of having a science communication/PR strategy free of arrière-pensées.
        Speaker: Dr Michel Claessens (European Commission, ITER, Brussels, Belgium)
        Slides
    • Keynote 4: Brian Trench (PCST, University of Dublin): Science communication research - what's the big idea? Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Science communication has become a mature and increasingly active field of research over the past twenty years. Brian Trench will review this history and identify some of the key themes and preoccupations, including in current research. He will consider what science communication research says to practice but also what its potential is as a scientific field.

      • 15
        Science communication research - what's the big idea? Eridanus

        Eridanus

        European Southern Observatory

        85748 Garching Germany
        Science communication has become a mature and increasingly active field of research over the past twenty years. Brian Trench will review this history and identify some of the key themes and preoccupations, including in current research. He will consider what science communication research says to practice but also what its potential is as a scientific field.
        Speaker: Mr Brian Trench (PCST, University of Dublin, Ireland)
        Slides
    • Coffee Break: Show and Tell Foyer

      Foyer

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
      • 16
        Show and Tell
        We would like to propose an interactive session when participants can bring physical demonstrations or videos of demonstrations in actions. This is an opportunity to share ideas and good practice in creating engaging content for visitors to demonstrate our science and engineering - and have some fun! Some of the examples we can show were custom built, some (such as our accelerator in a salad bowl!) can be made at very little cost. It would be good to discuss both failures and successes and how activities can be tailored to satisfy our various audiences.
        Speakers: Ms Jo Lewis (STFC), Ms Sara Fletcher (STFC)
        Slides
    • Parallel session 3: Branding & Funding Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Hannelore Hämmerle (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft)

      • 17
        Looking good
        The visual image we project carries an important message about CERN to the world and, as our visibility grows, it is increasingly important for that message to be that CERN is a modern organisation with a clear vision and mission.That is why we have developed a set of visual identity tools. These include a graphic charter, which defines the guidelines for constructing our visual identity, built  around the CERN logo, a brand book which is an overview document describing our identity position, but also animations. Our 2D and 3D animations are widely used in CERN’s exhibitions to visualise the invisible and turn complex technical information into engaging content.
        Speaker: Mrs Fabienne Landua (CERN)
        Slides
      • 18
        Raising Funds for the ESO Supernova
        The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre presents a new challenge for the outreach programme of ESO. The facility itself is a donation from the Klaus Tschira Stiftung but the operations are the financial responsibility of ESO. In order to provide a first-class programme of activities and to keep the entrance free, additional financial support is required. In this talk I will present our fundraising strategy including the challenges we are facing and some of the solutions we are implementing. I will outline the various approaches we are taking, from industrial sponsorship to in-kind partnerships, and give an overview of other sources of income we are investigating.
        Speaker: Ms Tania Johnston (ESO)
        Slides
      • 19
        Communicating the SINE2020 Neutron European Consortium
        SINE2020 – Science and Innovation with Neutrons in Europe in 2020 – is a consortium of neutron research facilities and institutions, funded under the European Union’s H2020 Framework Programme. Work-package 2 is dedicated to Outreach and Dissemination. In this presentation I will focus on a number of actions that proved successful in disseminating the project’s activities. Collaboration with relevant projects and institutions is essential. By maintaining a network of communication officers who meet regularly, we help each other promoting our materials. This goes from a simple re-Tweet to having brochures, flyers, or presentations distributed at conferences, schools, and other events; press releases have been posted on broad-reaching newsletters, articles have been co-written, and we reach out to our contacts at universities to promote our websites. We make use of channels external to the project, so that we can reach the ones who do not visit our website. We benefit from the European Commission’s news services to post our press releases. We post relevant articles on a science blog. We took part of the Native Scientist initiative in Munich and told 8-9 year olds about neutron scattering, in Portuguese. We also run our own platforms. We send out all the news and events posted on our website via an electronic newsletter, which lets people know what is knew and attracts traffic to the website. And by using Twitter and Facebook we realise how important it is to engage with students and scientists as well as of the right moments for our postings.
        Speaker: Ines Crespo
      • 20
        When Social effort overcomes Funding constraints
        The development of science communication activities requires various areas of knowledge and expertise (e.g. journalists, designers, musical artists and movie producers). The necessary funds to commission these services can be a serious limiting factor for most institutions doing science communication. Although discouraging, it is possible to create an efficient outreach programme without having access to a large budget. This talk addresses several real success examples of low budget outreach initiatives which are part of a comprehensive science communication programme, developed at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, making use of social based synergies to create innovative collaborations that enhance outreach activities. The strategy followed within this programme focus on two main lines of action: the fostering of a close bond between the institution/scientists and the public, and the creation of synergies with a diversity of professionals. Providing a shared environment which foster connections and dialog, and placing the public and researchers in equal standing, one can raise the awareness of the institution in society and nurture empathy for it. On this ground, it is possible to create a close, reciprocal and beneficial link between society, the scientists and the institution itself. On one hand, the researchers feel more encouraged and motivated to do outreach, and in many cases, they are the ones who look for or propose new ideas to implement and in which they collaborate. In addition, many people from the public come up with new ideas for outreach, either as individuals, companies, or institutions, and propose mutually beneficial collaborations that lead to projects with minor costs to the institution. Moreover, it becomes much easier for the institution to establish contacts with members of the public, companies or other institutions in order to negotiate partnerships. In this presentation some results of this strategy will be shown, including an artistic residence resulting in an art exhibition, music concerts within astronomy events, content production with design students, and a series of podcasts.
        Speaker: Mr João Retrê (Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences)
      • 21
        From branding to promotion, how to determine the building blocks of your communication
        Defining the brand is the first step anyone should take before setting up an organisation or opening a new project, let alone starting to communicate. What is a brand made of and what other elements come into play to ensure a good reputation of the organisation? These are questions we will address in this talk, trying to define what we call “the organisational DNA”. The talk entitled “From branding to promotion, how to determine the building blocks of your communication” will define four key elements any science communicator should clearly understand or define: the brand, the content, the audiences and the promotion strategies. In presenting these ideas, examples are offered from the work done for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, a state-of-the-art digital planetarium and interactive exhibition to open in 2018 at ESO’s Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany.
        Speaker: Oana Sandu (ESO partner)
        Slides
      • 22
        Communication Strategies for the Extremely Large Telescope
        The 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, currently being built by ESO, will be by far the largest optical/infrared telescope in existence when it reaches first light in 2024. Such a huge project, with impressive hardware, innovative technology and wide-ranging science goals is a great opportunity for outreach of many kinds, but also a big challenge in times of restricted resources. We have investigated the strengths and weaknesses of the ELT project in terms of communication and assessed the opportunities in the landscape of similar future big astronomical facilities such TMT, GMT, JWST and SKA. I will review some elements from our communication strategy for the telescope: vision, events, mission, news flow, visual materials, name, slogan, key messages, positioning, milestones, target groups and visual identity.
        Speakers: Mr Lars Lindberg Christensen (ESO), Mr Richard Hook (ESO)
        Slides
    • Parallel session 4: Unconventional outreach & Social media Telescopium

      Telescopium

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Joseph Piergrossi (European XFEL)

      • 23
        NANOCOSMOS ERC: Laboratory Astrophysics and Stardust
        “Gas and dust from the Stars to the Laboratory: Exploring the Nanocosmos” is the name of a project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) through a Synergy Grant with 15 million Euros. The group comprises three teams (two in Spain and one in France). The main goal of the project is to go in-depth on the understanding of how dust grains form in the envelopes of evolved sun-like stars. In order to do so, and besides observations, models and other developments, this Astrochemistry project has successfully developed an experimental set-up, called the Stardust machine, in the ICMM-CSIC (Madrid, Spain) whose goal is to reproduce those processes in an ultra-high vacuum environment. The importance of publishing scientific results based on NANOCOSMOS in the scientific literature goes without saying, but it is also important and a stated NANOCOSMOS objective to disseminate the achievements of the team and its scientific and technological results to a wider audience. In this presentation we will discuss the tools we are using to spread them to the society, from the traditional webpages or documentaries to an ERC_Comic.
        Speaker: Ruiz-Zelmanovitch Natalia (Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC))
        Slides
      • 24
        Scientists at IRB Barcelona dance for cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes research
        This session will focus on a case study of an innovative social media project launched by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona. IRB Barcelona was founded just over ten years ago and is doing world-class science, but is still relatively unknown. With the hope of raising awareness about our important work into diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes, we embarked on a project to launch a video fundraising and awareness campaign that would highlight our science and, importantly, our scientists—the hidden faces behind the research. We knew we wanted our video to be different, so we chose to dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNOqgHTtvH8&feature=youtu.be We launched the campaign on YouTube in October 2014. It immediately went viral and has been seen more than one million viewers in 200 countries. It has received extensive coverage by media in Spain and in other countries, and even appeared on the homepage of Science magazine. The video has been an example of marketing, awareness, fundraising and engagement success. In terms of branding and awareness, there are now more than a million people who are aware that IRB Barcelona exists and know that we do important research into diseases. Thanks to the fundraising mechanisms built in to the video, we raised thousands of euros in donations, and have received countless messages of support from around the world. In terms of engagement, the campaign provided a unique opportunity to bring our staff together for an exciting project with a common goal. We have also successfully engaged the community and prompted other individuals and groups to undertake their own fundraising activities in support of our research.
        Speaker: Ms Sarah Sherwood (Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona))
        Slides
      • 25
        Ignite IAstro: A touring show goes off the beaten track
        Most research institutions and science communication initiatives in Portugal are based in the main urban areas. Therefore, people in small cities and towns far away from the large cities have less opportunities to learn about current research in science and technology and to have direct contact with researchers. However, they constitute a significant number of the country’s population and may influence governance regarding the investment and education in science and technology. In addition, teenagers and young people in these areas will pursue higher education and may choose careers in STEM. The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço designed a national tour in which, once a month, on a Saturday evening, a group of nine researchers visit a city or town distant from metropolitan areas. Following the ‘ignite’ format and branded Ignite IAstro Tour, the researchers give quick and focused five-minute talks, presenting a wide range of research topics in simple language and in a lively and fast-paced show. Working closely with the municipality, schools, teachers, libraries and cultural venues, the events are promoted within the local cultural scene. The venue is always a cultural setting, such as theatre or performance venues, and even historic buildings. In 2016, nearly 2000 people attended the 11 Ignite IAstro events, in half the districts in continental Portugal. Other municipalities contacted us to be included in the 2017 tour, namely the Autonomous Region of Azores. We believe this awareness grew out of the impact on local media, prior and after the events, and the consistent brand and visual identity. One same event can include topics like ‘hunting’ exoplanets, ‘dust cleaning’ in galaxies, the ‘puberty’ of stars, and telescopes' teamwork. These are also regular opportunities for researchers to practice focused and enlightening talks. Despite the effort required, 34 researchers (about 30% of the institute's), from a range of career stages, participated in the tour, with some becoming regular speakers. Support is given by improving the slides and offering feedback on the video recordings of their performances. Researchers also enjoy the time spent with colleagues from other scientific fields.
        Speaker: Mr Sérgio Pereira (Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço)
      • 26
        Thinking outside of the campus - reaching geographically remote audiences
        Bringing visitors in to facilities can be an easy win, with large, impressive machines and the availability of the scientists and engineers who use and build them. But what can we do for audiences who can't or won't come to us? ISIS neutron and muon source and Diamond light source have created resources that can be distributed or accessed online and resource packs that can be sent out to schools that are geographically remote. This includes simulations showing how the machine works, linked to the school curriculum, and beamlines made of Lego and flatpack instruments that can be posted and constructed at the school. Diamond is currently running Project M, an innovative citizen science project where schools produce samples which will be measured at the facility. This summer ISIS will take on a student to help us create a portable VR environment, and we are producing a 3D printed model that can be deconstructed to show the target, moderators and instruments. We'll be discussing how these and other resources can be developed to reach broader and more diverse audiences than just those who can visit in person.
        Speakers: Ms Laura Holland (Diamond Light Source), Ms Sara Fletcher (STFC)
      • 27
        The EGU Blogs: an online platform for science communication
        The European Geosciences Union (EGU) Blogs host the official blog of the EGU, GeoLog, as well as a network of blogs in the Earth, planetary and space sciences aimed at fostering a diverse community of geoscientist bloggers. The site also hosts a selection of blogs from the EGU scientific divisions, which share division-specific news, events, and activities, as well as updates on the latest research in their field. The aim of this project is to offer blogging researchers an online platform to share their insights with other scientists and, importantly, to distil complex and often misunderstood concepts so they are easier to understand for the general public. After a brief introduction, the presentation will focus on how the EGU Blogs are used for the purposes of science communication and on the challenges faced when running a diverse blog network. The EGU Blogs have the support of the EGU Outreach Committee and are made possible thanks to the work of volunteer bloggers. We are grateful for the help of Sara Mynott, former EGU Communications Officer, and Robert Barsch, EGU System Administrator and Webmaster, in this project.
        Speakers: Dr Barbara Ferreira (European Geosciences Union), Dr Laura Roberts (European Geosciences Union)
        Slides
      • 28
        Engaging the public at the bluedot festival
        Events such as music festivals present a novel way of accessing members of the public who would not normally engage in science outreach. In July 2016, we welcomed more than 14,000 visitors to the inaugural bluedot festival at Jodrell Bank Observatory, part of the University of Manchester. Against the backdrop of the iconic Lovell Radio Telescope, the festival not only featured major names in music such as Jean-Michel Jarre and Underworld, but also included cultural events as well as an interactive science programme. Live science and planetarium shows and talks by eminent scientists,took place alongside an interactive science arena, known as the Star Field, where more than 200 scientists engaged with the public covering areas as diverse as carnivorous plants and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be the World’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. The bluedot festival provided an opportunity to reach a much more diverse audience than that normally seen at a science centre, such as the Discovery Centre at Jodrell Bank. Indeed our survey of people attending bluedot suggests that 39% of visitors over the festival weekend had never visited a science centre before and more than 35% of visitors felt they were more interested in science after attending bluedot. Having received awards for ‘New Festival on the Block’ and ‘Mind Blowing Spectacle’ (for Brian Eno’s light installation) at the Association of Independent Festival Awards, the bluedot festival will return to Jodrell Bank in July 2017. This year we hope to welcome more than 20,000 visitors, giving them an opportunity to learn from, and engage with, a broad range of UK science. I will present an overview of the vast array of outreach activities that we used to engage visitors during the bluedot festival, highlighting those which proved particularly successful, and which we will be taking forward for planning future outreach events.
        Speakers: Mr Jamie Sloan (Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, University of Manchester), Dr Ruth Grutzbauch (Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, University of Manchester)
        Slides
      • 29
        Engaging with the Engineering of the Square Kilometre Array: an RAEng 'Ingenious' project
        This Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre project aimed to engage the public, and especially school pupils, with the UK’s work on the exciting engineering challenges of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), one of the world’s greatest international science and engineering projects, using these as a route for inspiration and education for the engineers of the future. The SKA is a colossal international engineering endeavour, constructing the largest radio telescope on the planet. It is overseen from the SKA Organisation headquarters, which are located at Jodrell Bank in the UK. However, the science and engineering development is carried out by the member states. The UK’s work is being mostly delivered by research groups in the Universities of Manchester, Oxford and Cambridge. Central to the project was the aim of developing public engagement skills and experience amongst the UK SKA ‘engineering community’ so that a ‘culture’ of public engagement would be fostered as the norm as this community grows both within the UK and worldwide. During the project 38 engineers were involved in a variety of ways: developing engagement activities at collaborative workshops, being interviewed for online profiles and being involved in delivering outreach. Outreach took place in a range of conventional and unconventional settings - including at an SKA engineering themed ‘Girls Night Out’ evening event (specifically targeting young women and girls) and the bluedot festival (which explores the realms of music, science, technology and the arts)held at Jodrell Bank in July 2016. During engineers’ direct participation in outreach activities an audience of approximately 16,000 people was reached, the entire project reaching an audience of over 33,000 in total. Evaluation showed that 100% of engineers involved in the outreach delivery enjoyed the experience and found it rewarding. 82% reported that the experience boosted their outreach confidence and improved their communication skills. I will present an overview of the project and the approach taken, outlining the difficulties encountered along the way and highlighting aspects of the project that were particularly successful.
        Speaker: Mr Jamie Sloan (Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, University of Manchester)
        Slides
    • Lunch Foyer

      Foyer

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
    • Parallel session 5: Evaluation Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Oana Sandu (ESO)

      • 30
        Rosetta: adventures in science communication
        ESA’s Rosetta mission captured the world’s attention throughout 2014-2016, with its communication campaign the most successful in the Agency’s history. The mission itself was an extraordinary operational and scientific success, but communicating on these topics alone would likely not have brought the Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander to the attention of such a large, global audience. We will present the variety of different communication tools and engagement activities employed alongside conventional press releases, websites and media briefings, to reach previously untapped audiences, and briefly summarise some of the lessons learnt from each project. These included competitions connecting key mission milestones to everyday life, a cartoon series and personified twitter accounts that gave faces and characters to the spacecraft, and a sci-fi film released ‘undercover’ with no ESA branding in the first instance, targeting film fans. The Rosetta Blog, which bridged the gap from our traditional websites to social media, also provided a forum for discussing the latest events and results throughout the entire mission. The depth of impact the mission and the associated engagement activities had on individuals is clearly reflected in contributions to our ‘Rosetta Legacy’ project. We will also briefly discuss how lessons learned from these communications activities can be applied to our upcoming and future missions.
        Speaker: Dr Emily Baldwin (EJR-Quartz for European Space Agency)
        Slides
      • 31
        Evaluation of research infrastructure investment and Public Engagement in the UK
        The UK Government is introducing a new appraisal and evaluation framework for all large Research Infrastructure investments. The introduction of this new framework was prompted by the UK National Audit Office report on capital investment in science projects in 2016. The key findings of this report were that BEIS (UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) did not have adequate processes in place to assess and prioritise large capital investments or to evaluate those investments throughout their lifetime. STFC’s Impact Evaluation Team have carried out impact evaluations of strategically significant investments across STFC over several years, for example SRS, ISIS, Cryogenics, MRI, Oxford Instruments etc. These studies have tended to focus on long term impacts, sometimes over 30 years. Historically, we have focused our efforts at the Evaluation stage of the Policy and Programme cycle. However, with the introduction of the new BEIS requirements, this may need to be revisited so that STFC can manage the whole cycle in a more strategic way which maximises the use of the resources and expertise available. We present this new framework and how STFC is responding to these requirements, highlighting some key recent evaluation examples from our programme. We will then present the STFC Evaluation Framework for Public Engagement. This framework, the result of a two year project, sets out a coherent approach to the evaluation of the diverse, nationwide activities under our new five year PE Strategy. We will outline how the framework defines very precisely a series of key, related concepts, in particular “reach” and “outcomes”, so that these can be captured consistently through a range of data gathering methods. This enables us to aggregate data from activities across the PE programme so that we can report on, improve and celebrate individual activities and, critically, the programme as a whole. We believe this proposal merits a plenary session due to its strategic nature and therefore its relevance to a wide range of participating institutions.
        Speakers: Mr Dan Hillier Hillier (Science and Technology Facilities Council), Mr James Watson (Science and Technology Facilities Council)
        Slides
      • 32
        Case Study: Building a Physics Institute’s Outreach Programme from Scratch
        We present the findings of our case study around building an outreach programme from scratch at the Leiden Institute of Physics, The Netherlands. Before we started, the institute had no official outreach programme, giving us a unique opportunity to do a clean case study, with no pre-existing factors that influence our data. We have been measuring and analyzing the effects of our social media strategy, press releases and newsletters in terms of reach, engagement and media coverage. Along with these data, we show our experience with encouraging scientists to engage in outreach and our ‘out-of-the-box’ activities. For example, we set up an internal research image contest, resulting in surprisingly beautiful pictures and national press coverage. Furthermore, we created a partnership with a school for graphic design, providing us with visual material at no cost and giving their students first-hand experience in science design. Moreover, we shot a movie at the local city center asking pedestrians about physics, after which we show them their misconception with an experiment. This put us directly in touch with the general public. In the absence of a prior outreach programme, we have a rare, clear view on the effects of our actions, over a two-year period. We are in a unique position to perform this clean case study at a large physics institute. From there we provide valuable do’s and don’ts for science communication practice.
        Speaker: Mr Erik Arends (Leiden University)
        Slides
      • 33
        Using social media to make science publicly appealing
        How does CERN use social media to make science publicly appealing? What lessons have we learned along the way? CERN has been using social media since 2007 and evaluating our impact has become more and more important. In 2016, we co-published a paper detailing how CERN’s social media drives public engagement with particle physics and cultivates support. We have communicated not only the latest advancements in particle physics but also showcased the people behind the science with two 2016 campaigns (#InTheory and #InPractice), profiling theoretical and experimental physicists. New social media techniques were trialled and evaluated: 360 photos and videos, portraits and quotes, Instagram grids and Instagram stories. The European Particle Physics Communication Network (EPPCN) has also now integrated social media into its communication strategy, and CERN works closely with representatives across the network to increase visibility of worldwide particle physics research. Analysis is an important part of managing CERN’s presence on social media, in order to know the audience and be aware of its expectations. We want to share with you our latest findings, show how they have helped us and discuss shared experience and best practices.
        Speaker: Mrs Julie Haffner (CERN)
        Slides
    • Parallel session 6: Enhancing collaboration Telescopium

      Telescopium

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Inês Crespo (Roslin Institute, Uni. Edinburgh)

      • 34
        ELIXIR: Communication, collaboration and community outreach in a distributed infrastructure
        ELIXIR ([www.elixir-europe.org][1]) is a distributed research infrastructure for biological data. It unites Europe’s leading life science organisations in managing and safeguarding life-science data generated by publicly funded research. ELIXIR’s approach to communication is defined by ELIXIR’s two main characteristics: (1) Distributed and virtual infrastructure. As a federation of resources and expertise, ELIXIR connects over 180 institutes from 20 European countries. (2) Diverse community. ELIXIR brings together diverse research communities (bioinformaticians, life scientists, software developers and others) from multiple domains (genomics and rare disease research, plant and marine sciences). This presentation will provide an overview of ELIXIR communications with a focus on some of the challenges in communications for a distributed infrastructure. It will give concrete examples of communications activities from the ELIXIR Hub (the ELIXIR coordinating body) and from two national nodes, ELIXIR Czech Republic and ELIXIR UK. The ELIXIR Communications Strategy provides the framework for all ELIXIR communications activities and also serves as a reference document for ELIXIR’s national nodes. The interplay between national and European level in communications and between several communities will be demonstrated using social media activities. ELIXIR UK ([www.elixir-uk.org][2]) presents special challenges for communication and engagement because it is itself a network of an increasing number of groups within numerous institutions, both universities and research institutes, that need to develop a community spirit to deliver the UK’s contribution to ELIXIR. We will discuss the increasingly sophisticated strategy for outreach that this requires. ELIXIR CZ ([www.elixir-czech.org][3]) node is rather heterogenous from the perspective of the institutions forming the national infrastructure and the user community. We will present the communication strategy of the national node as an example of ELIXIR communication strategy adaptation to the local needs. [1]: http://www.elixir-europe.org [2]: http://www.elixir-uk.org [3]: http://www.elixir-czech.org
        Speakers: Ms Hana Pergl-Sustkova (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Science, ELIXIR Czech republic), Dr John Hancock (Earlham Institute, ELIXIR UK), Mr Premysl Velek (ELIXIR Hub)
        Slides
      • 35
        The Interaction Collaboration: global coordination of science communications
        The InterActions Collaboration was established in 2003 to coordinate international communications for the science of particle physics, and to foster peaceful collaboration across all borders. The InterActions membership comprises the world's major particle physics laboratories in Europe, North America and Asia, and reflects the global nature of funding and support for the discipline, as well as the differing cultural norms in scientific workplaces around the world. European members include the UK's STFC, CERN, DESY in Germany, NIKKEF of the Netherlands, Italy's INFN, IN2P3 and CEA of France, and Russia's JINR Dubna. Since the Collaboration’s inception, InterActions' laboratories have continued to expand their operations beyond particle physics, and many now operate large scale research infrastructures for a broad range of science: from theoretical physics to material science, engineering, astrophysics, biological and life sciences, computational science, and associated data, theoretical, statistical and mathematical functions. In practical terms, the Collaboration operates the Interactions.org website and Newswire, and provides a vehicle for the embargoed sharing of news and information between members, and a forum and protocols for planning the type of globally coordinated publicity needed for a truly global science. This talk will examine the practical aspects of the Collaboration’s activities, including the various protocols and funding arrangements, and will include an assessment of the transferability of these to other science communications forums.
        Speaker: Mr Terence O'CONNOR (Science and Technology Facilities Council)
        Slides
      • 36
        Communicating SESAME
        SESAME, Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, is a third-generation light source currently being commissioned in Allan, Jordan. Established under the auspices of UNESCO, SESAME is now an independent intergovernmental organisation with Members Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey. Its mission is to provide a world-class research facility for the region, while fostering international scientific cooperation among its Members. Experiments at SESAME will enable research in fields ranging from medicine and biology, through materials science, physics and chemistry to healthcare, the environment, agriculture and archaeology. Through the Horizon 2020 project, Open Sesame, a number of European institutions are providing training for SESAME staff and users. Open Sesame includes a work package focused on communications with the objective of providing SESAME with basic communications tools and building a communications capacity at the laboratory over the period 2017-2019. This presentation will give a brief overview of SESAME and go on to address the specific communications challenges facing the laboratory. For example, unlike established research infrastructures in Europe, a key target audience for SESAME is the potential user community in the SESAME region, members of which may be unaware of the laboratory, what it can offer to them and how they may use the facility.
        Speaker: Dr James Gillies (CERN)
        Slides
      • 37
        Is it possible to design effective educational outreach programs that will meet the requirements of a large organization, provide value to the local community, and be adaptable for and/or useful to international partners?
        For the past eight years, the TMT International Observatory has conducted an outreach program, focused on Hawaii Island, the planned site for the observatory. We designed a program to help meet Hawaii Island’s educational and workforce development needs, and to demonstrate the project’s commitment to the local community. However, as the TIO partnership expanded to include five countries we have been expanding and increasingly focusing our outreach efforts on education, outreach, and workforce development that will involve all our partner countries. TIO has assembled an international team to help with choosing and designing outreach programs that will not only be effective in Hawaii, but also meet some of the needs of our partner organizations in Canada, China, India, Japan and the US. A review of some of our early efforts provides some guidance and direction on how to merge the divergent goals.
        Speaker: Ms Sandra Dawson (TMT International Observatory)
        Slides
    • Coffee Break Foyer

      Foyer

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany
    • Interactive parallel session 7: Panel discussion on crisis communication Telescopium

      Telescopium

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Laura Holland (Diamond Light Source, UK)

      • 38
        CERN Crisis Communication Plan
        Big research infrastructures such as CERN are increasingly in the media and therefore well known to the public. In case a crisis strikes, it is vital for the reputation of the laboratory to be able to react in a timely and appropriate manner. Handling a crisis is not only done on the operational side but also on the communication side. Communications with all internal and external stakeholders and interested parties is vital in an incident. Even a small technical incident can give rise to a bigger crisis if it is not handled properly from the communication point of view. In addition, crisis communication can come from all kind of areas inherent to such big infrastructures and not necessary to the big machines that it hosts. Having a suitable crisis communication plan is thus important as is knowing how to implement it. Training of the communication team is important. We have found that training should be regular and involve as many members of the communication group as possible. This talk will present the CERN Crisis Communication Plan and how the CERN communications group trains for its implementation. We will discuss topics such as frequency of training, approach and which issues to include in the training. Sharing best practice on this topic among other participants would be an asset.
        Speaker: Sophie Tesauri (CERN)
        Slides
      • 39
        INFRAFRONTIER - Communication in a challenging public environment
        INFRAFRONTIER is the European research infrastructure for the generation, phenotyping, archiving and distribution of model mammalian genomes. It advances our understanding of human health and disease by providing mouse disease models and related data to biomedical researchers worldwide. The topic of animal experimentation meets a lot of scepticism in the general public: while many acknowledge that they directly profit from the contribution of animal experiments to our understanding of how human diseases develop and how we can treat them, others are outright hostile to the very idea of animal research. This mixed public perception also affects the reception of the main target groups of INFRAFRONTIER's communication: potential scientific users, funders and politicians. INFRAFRONTIER addresses this challenge with a communication strategy that (1) stresses the general value of animal experimentation in biomedical research and (2) specifically emphasises the INFRAFRONTIER approach to this topic: Providing centralised high quality resources to promote responsible animal research, the principle of the 3R (reduction, replacement, refinement), and our own "INFRAFRONTIER Rs" reliability, responsibility and reproducibility.
        Speaker: Dr Michael Raess (INFRAFRONTIER GmbH)
        Slides
      • 40
        Could SCIENCE be positioned as the next social movement?
        Social movements are a type of group action. They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues. The question is, in a post-truth world of alternative facts and fake news, could science (ya know, the systematic study of our world...) actually be positioned as a social movement? This talk imagines science as a central value in a social movement and suggests unconventional outreach strategies where social movement tactics are employed to elevate and advance the sciences. To do this, we will dissect the fundamental nature of modern successful social movements (indigenous rights, gay rights, animal welfare, and others), including the implications of a recent "March for Science" on April 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. We will outline five out of the box strategies for how science and public outreach professionals might support or advance a social movement that values and elevates science. There will be time at the end of the talk to discuss whether the conditions are ripe for such a social movement and whether research infrastructures could or should have a meaningful role.
        Speaker: Ms Sandra Dawson (Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory)
        Slides
      • 41
        Experiences and reflections on crisis communication
        Speaker: Dr Ulrich Marsch (Technical University of Munich)
      • 42
        Challenging communication of controversial (research) issues
        Speaker: Dr Christina Beck (Max-Planck Society)
        Slides
      • 43
        Communicating crises in a post-truth society: Facts argue against emotions
        Research on the human brain involves tests on primates, which prompts activists against animal testing. Neutron research needs nuclear reactors, running on highly enriched uranium and producing radioactivity, which alarms critics and causes fears in the neighbourhood. Can facts from the authorities and good research results really stand up against fears, emotions and alternative truths? We invite the managers of these and other presented issues to discuss in a panel best practices, no-goes and possible solutions in communicating risks in a post-truth society: Dr. Christina Beck (Head of Communications Max-Planck Society), Dr. Ulrich Marsch (Head of Corporate Communication Center Technical University of Munich) Ms. Sandra Dawson (Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory) Sophie TESAURI (CERN) Dr. Michael RAESS (INFRAFRONTIER GmbH)
        Speaker: Andrea Voit
    • Interactive parallel session 8: O Brother, where art thou (communicating)? Sculptor / Pictor

      Sculptor / Pictor

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Petra Nieckchen (EUROFUSION)
      Registration required at https://webapps.frm2.tum.de/indico/event/54/registration/

      • 44
        O brother, Where Art Thou (communicating)?
        George Clooney’s character Everett in *O brother, Where Art Thou?* thinks that his ‘capacity for abstract thoughts’ makes him the natural leader of a group of three escaped convicts. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Everett is as clueless as his companions. But in the end they combine their limited abilities; they succeed and even rocket to stardom! As communicators let’s combine knowledge. We are all challenged by an ever-expanding job description and are stumbling from one aspect into another. **Take, for example, parsing out relevant data.** A massive amount of data – Big Data – floods in and demands analysis. How are we doing as statisticians? Are we drowning in data or staying in control? Can we effectively use this data? **What about communications strategy?** Competition is high, secured funding was yesterday. Times are gone where an overseeable to-do list could be played by ear. How many of us keep an updated communications strategy in their repertoire? Why or why not? **Then there is social media.** Do we make optimal use of the opportunities social media hold? Or do we misuse these channels to issue our very same press release? **Take collaboration.** Social networks are all about sharing in an unprecedented speed. Both aspects require top-down transfer of power and trust to interact timely which in turn means loss of power for some within the organisation. Does that still matter? **Lastly branding.** Does sharing weaken branding? Can we build solid social reputation for our brand, the new currency in the virtual world? And if so how? EUROfusion’s communications office works on the answers to these questions. Can we be successful in this? We are not sure. And the authors wonder: Brother, Where Art Thou? So, the spirit of sharing guides this activity at PARI that starts with an introduction into the topics. Afterwards the authors invite the participants to discuss one topic of their choice described above. The authors don’t possess the silver bullet but seek salvation from sharing and learning. Learn from us as we learn from you. Contact details are shared during the session and – depending on the resonance – collaboration afterwards is thinkable.
        Speakers: Mrs Anne Purschwitz (EUROfusion), Mrs Misha Kidambi (EUROfusion), Mr Mohamed Belhorma (EUROfusion), Dr Petra Nieckchen (EUROfusion)
    • Interactive parallel session 9: Making the case Fornax

      Fornax

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany

      Chair: Lars Christensen (ESO)

      • 45
        Making the Case
        In this presentation, I will summarize the outcomes from a three-day workshop held in April 2017 titled “Making the Case”. This workshop provided Workforce, Education, Public Outreach and Communications (WEPOC) leaders from high energy physics and astronomy projects a candid forum for considering fundamental questions for large, international science projects: - What is the value of WEPOC to the projects and their communities? - How, when and where should WEPOC be defined, developed and implemented? - What are the barriers and challenges in developing strategic plans and programs? - How do you make the case of the value of WEPOC to the international leadership in these projects? It is noteworthy and that while many of the high energy physics and science projects engage Communication and Outreach specialists as part of their team, their experience, access to leadership, specific roles and functions can be quite different. Each of these skilled professionals is finding solutions to project-specific problems, however they would benefit from a forum to share leadership-level lessons learned and create practical roadmaps for future large science projects involving international partners. This session seeks to make contributions toward this goal.
        Speaker: Dr Gordon Squires (Caltech/IPAC - TMT)
        Slides
      • 46
        Getting organised for communicating about research infrastructure
        The diverse range of large research infrastructures share some features that make our communications and engagement distinctively challenging. Projects are multi-institutional, multi-national and increasingly multi-disciplinary in scope. So project communications must be meshed with corporate communications; long-term strategies are needed for long-term projects, that often spend years under development before they go live; meanwhile core or host organisations must interact with organisations in many other countries. This session is a panel discussion in which 3-4 speakers will talk briefly to describe what they see as a critical challenge in how we set up our communications work - and offer a solution to it. This will include feedback from a workshop at Caltech in April which will be discussing similar issues. There will then be a Q&A with delegates. The speakers will be drawn from the conference delegates, once the list of delegates is known. A fuller report from the Caltech workshop in April might make this proposal suitable as a 45min plenary session.
        Speakers: Mr Dan Hilllier (Science and Technology Facilities Council), Mr Lars Lindberg Christensen (ESO), Mr Terence O'CONNOR (Science and Technology Facilities Council)
    • Summary of Sessions & Closing Eridanus

      Eridanus

      European Southern Observatory

      85748 Garching Germany