World news story: Science communications workshops in Russia: how to have a Big Bang

Aimed at Russian science communicators, media and academics, these workshops provided the tools and skills to promote science and innovation more effectively, whether in Russian or English.

Academics and practitioners around the world face the shared challenge of making science accessible to wider audiences. How can we better explain the complex scientific discoveries to people of all ages? What is the best way to communicate science to the public? How do we get non-specialist audiences interested in issues that have an impact on the world they live in?

The series of workshops started with Julian Siddle (BBC Radio Producer, BBC Science Unit) delivering a 2-hours workshop for science communications practitioners at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Based on his first-hand experience, Julian explained how to transform complex scientific materials into engaging content interesting for non-specialist audiences. The presentation was followed by an interactive exercise where the participants tried to put their knowledge into practice using newly acquired tips & tricks of pop-science. After the workshop, Julian has also delivered a lecture for those who would like to know more about science communications and its importance for our ever-changing world. The next day Julian ran a similar workshop in Kazan’s centre of contemporary art Smena. It was followed by his final workshop in St. Petersburg on 13th September.

The programme of workshops continued in Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk, where Aiveen Finn (Scientific Communications Manager at Diamond Light Source) told the workshops participants about science communication from a scientist’s perspective. How to be a communicator yourself as a scientist? How to explain various scientific discoveries to the media and the public? What’s the value in using images and storytelling? Aiveen answered these questions and shared best practice case studies on popularising science. She also ran an interactive session with the guests of the event. The respective events took place in Yeltsin Centre in Ekaterinburg and at the Novaya Kniga book fair in Novosibirsk.

The British Embassy in Moscow together with Polytech Museum (Moscow) has also organised the display of the best science photography by the Wellcome Image Awards in Novosibirsk. The Awards recognise the creators of informative, striking and technically excellent images that communicate significant aspects of healthcare and biomedical science.

More than 500 young professionals, including journalist, scientists and science communicators, attended the workshops across Russia with over 1500 people watched live broadcasting of the lectures.