Bibcode
Del Puerto, C.
Bibliographical reference
Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics V, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Volume . ISBN 978-3-642-11249-2. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2010, p. 551
Advertised on:
2010
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
In the overall context of science popularisation, it is often remarked
the need for specialised journalism: good training programmes for
journalists would provide them with scientific communication skills.
Thus, science journalists are usually educated at the Instituto de
Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). However, the success of the
scientific communication also depends on the skills of the scientists.
They have to learn to communicate scientific projects and results,
because this is both a necessity (even to themselves) and an obligation.
Moreover, many young scientists will get positions in education and
divulgation. As we are aware of these issues, our MSc degree in
astrophysics (IAC-University of La Laguna) incorporates a course in
"Communication of Scientific Results and Teaching of Astronomy". The
Science and Cosmos Museum (Cabildo de Tenerife) is also involved in this
4-month (3 ECTs) compulsory course. MSc students not only learn how to
get funds, apply for observing time, write scientific papers, present
contributions to scientific meetings, edit their own CV, or communicate
their results to colleagues, they also learn techniques for divulgation
and promotion of science in a practical and funny way. Students act as
popularisers, scientific journalists and high-school teachers within the
classroom. In this contribution, we report our experience over the past
two academic years.