Tips

Staying up to date as a science communicator

How do you stay up to date on the latest news and insights in the field of science communication? This list gives you a head-start.

Frank Nuijens

Aug 11, 2021 — 1 min read

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Blogs

Feedspot's Top 20 Science Communication Blogs and Websites

World conferences

The Mother of science communication conferences is the PCST. It takes place every two years. The next one is in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 2023.
The PCST also has an active e-mail discussion list that is worth subscribing to.
The World Conference of Science Journalists is also organized every two years and open to both journalists and communicators. The next one is in Colombia in 2022.
The British Science Association organises a regular Science Communication Conference in the UK, keep an eye on their events page.
The UK Conference of Science Journalists is a biennial conference organized by the British Association of Science Writers. On this page you can still watch the sessions from the 2020 edition.
ScienceWriters202 2, the annual conference for science writers by science writers.

Dutch conferences

The yearly Vakconferentie WTC brings together science communicators, scientists and communication scientists to share theory and practise.
SciCom NL is the branch organization for science communication professionals. They have regular activities.

Newsletters

Academic journals

Podcasts

Facebook

Twitter

I curate the Twitter account SciComm News & Views, where you can find interesting links to content about science communication #scicomm, science journalism, open access #openaccess, science policy, (social) sciences and humanities, and academia and academic life in general.

Missing something on this list? Please let me know!

Best advice from your profession

On Reddit there's a thread asking for the best advice from your profession. My advice as a communication professional, specialised in the field of science communication, would be: Remember that it's not about you, it's about them. Don’t focus solely on what you

Reflections on the PCST 2023 conference

The Local Organising Committee of the Public Communication of Science and Technology conference, of which I was part, evaluated the conference yesterday. I reflect on my personal highlights of the conference.

Good communication starts with listening

What I have come to think differently about, the website Beste ID asked me and 76 other thinkers. That is that good communication is above all about listening. And thus that some scientists are at least partly responsible for the growing gap between science and the practically educated in society.

Bringing society inside the walls of scientific facilities

The Public Awareness of Research Infrastructures (PARI) three-day conference held in July 2022 at the SKA Observatory’s Global Headquarters (U.K.) discussed the science communication issues that practitioners face at research infrastructures, like community building, science diplomacy and equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM. We concluded that we need