The 1×1 of Science Commu­ni­ca­tion: Build­ing Bridges in Times of Uncertainty

Abstract

Public debates about the coro­n­avirus or climate change show how impor­tant the commu­ni­ca­tion of scien­tif­ic knowl­edge and a basic under­stand­ing of scien­tif­ic work­ing meth­ods are among the gener­al public. The demands on science commu­ni­ca­tion are partic­u­lar­ly high. It should create trust, convey infor­ma­tion and support the forma­tion of opin­ion, as well as promote coop­er­a­tion between research, poli­tics and the public. For indi­vid­ual scien­tists, it is not only a matter of initi­at­ing the dialog between science and soci­ety, but every­one seems to be increas­ing­ly called upon to present them­selves and to network profes­sion­al­ly. All of this is subject to inter­nal and exter­nal science commu­ni­ca­tion and not every­one feels comfort­able with or equipped for these commu­ni­ca­tion challenges.

Against this back­ground, the keynote will reflect on the demands and chal­lenges of science commu­ni­ca­tion. Refer­ences to the Coro­na pandem­ic includ­ing the new chal­lenges of deal­ing with misin­for­ma­tion and conspir­a­cy narra­tives as well as a poten­tial­ly chal­lenged trust in science will be made. In addi­tion, a basic under­stand­ing of science commu­ni­ca­tion is to be devel­oped and it is to be ques­tioned which possi­bil­i­ties, chan­nels and meth­ods there are to get involved or to partic­i­pate in exchanges with differ­ent target groups. It is impor­tant to ask what a strate­gic orien­ta­tion of one’s own commu­ni­ca­tion measures means and how we can make science commu­ni­ca­tion a signif­i­cant tool for deal­ing with future challenges.

Speak­er

Dr. Elena Link is Junior Profes­sor of Science Commu­ni­ca­tion at the Insti­tut für Publizis­tik at Johannes Guten­berg Univer­si­ty Mainz. Previ­ous­ly, she complet­ed her PhD on the role of trust in health infor­ma­tion seek­ing at the Hanover Center for Health Commu­ni­ca­tion at the Hanover Univer­si­ty of Music, Drama and Media in 2018 and has since worked there as a senior researcher on numer­ous projects in the field of health and science commu­ni­ca­tion. Her research focus­es on the field of health commu­ni­ca­tion. Specif­i­cal­ly, she is inter­est­ed in the factors influ­enc­ing, types of, and effects of engage­ment with health infor­ma­tion, as well as the commu­ni­ca­tion of scien­tif­ic knowl­edge, for exam­ple, about medical inno­va­tions to the gener­al public. In rela­tion to the Coro­na pandem­ic, she has focused on how people obtain infor­ma­tion about the disease as well as vacci­na­tion, or why this is not done and how it should be dealt with.

Date

Day: Monday, Septem­ber 18
Time: 11:45 am — 12:45 pm
Place: AULA