Doctoral Education in Science Communication (DESCOM)

Science Communication Course

Spread over two block courses, this introductory course gives doctoral candidates an understanding of basic concepts of science communication. This formal training offers an introduction into the organizational structures of science communication as well as essential communication tools. Deepened learning skills and further ECTS points can be acquired during our science communication internships or outreach activities.

Please Note: This course is open to all doctoral candidates of Luxembourg from every research discipline.

The Course (incl. practices) covers the following topics:

1)     Environment of science communication and general concepts

• Overall situation of science
• Communication science
• Stakeholders of science
• Goals of science communication

2) Structures and organization of science communication

• Institutional communication
• The communicators
• Brand development

3) Tools of science communication (Web, Social Media, Print, Videos, Events, Personal Communication)

Further information about the course is available on Moodle.

 

Science Communication Internships

The Internships give the doctoral candidates the possibility to practice their science communication skills. At the UL or at one of our partner institutes, the interns will obtain hands-on experience in science communication while participating in one or more activities accompanied by professionals in the field. Furthermore, apart from receiving ECTS points, doctoral candidates gain the opportunity to get to know the working environment and daily tasks in communication departments or institutes specializing on public outreach.

More information about the internships and how to apply can be found here as well as on Moodle.

The first interns described their experiences in this news article.

 

Outreach activities

As our main aim is to support interactions between academia and the public, we designed several outreach activities on different topics, targeting different audiences and using different means of communication.

Science Comics

For instance, we developed science comics about research in Luxembourg. The two-paged stories about different fields of research have been developed by doctoral candidates in collaboration with artists.

LUX:plorations is the newest one and can be downloaded in English, French, German or Luxembourgish on sciencecomics.uni.lu, where you can also find more information about the people involved. Volume 2 is even available in Portuguese!

Our first comic, published in 2019 can be downloaded here:

Download the English version of the Comics	Télécharger la version française de la BD
Luet déi lëtzebuergesch Versioun erof	Die deutsche Version herunterladen

To read the comics online, please click here for the English version and here for the French version.

If you want to receive copies of the comics or wish to use them in some outreach activities, distribute them or use them in your classes, please contact the Project Manager. Whenever possible, we will provide you with some copies.

Cancer Quiz

In order to educate about cancer, doctoral candidates developed a cancer quiz on Kahoot in several languages.

You can challenge yourself as well in the English, French or German quiz (challenge links active until 8 July 2021).

A live quiz session will be held online on 23, 24 and 25 April. You can find more information as well as the Zoom link on the respective event site.

Science & Research Writing Competition

Research is everywhere and for everyone! All scientists and researchers as well as everyone working in research or innovation in Luxembourg are invited to participate in this popular science writing competition. The competition is organised in collaboration with science.lu. To read more about the winning articles please visit this news article.

3MT Video competition

DESCOM also supported the 3MT video competition organized by LuxDoc in which scientists competed against each other with a three minute long video about their research.

Information booth

DESCOM also supported an information booth about the link between pesticides and cancer during the Lëtz go Gold charity run, which was organized in collaboration with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH).

Luxembourg's Science Slam 2021

DESCOM also supported the Science Slam organized by LuxDoc.

 

Further information about our outreach activities can be found on our News & Events section.

We also actively support the design and organization of further outreach activities:

If you are a researcher… wishing to organize an outreach activity, please do not hesitate to contact the Project Manager for further information on how we can help you.

If you are a doctoral candidate… wishing to participate in an outreach activity or organize one, please do not hesitate to contact the Project Manager. On top of that, there is also the possibility to earn ECTS points for the involvement in outreach activities. For this, please contact us before the event.

 

Pocket Guide

DESCOM also published a Pocket Guide to provide theoretical and practical knowledge on science communication for interested researchers. It serves as a script for the DESCOM Science Communication Course and can serve as preparatory material for all training activities of DESCOM. You can download it via scicomguide.uni.lu, where you can also find a knowledge database on science communication.

Interested researchers from the University of Luxembourg wishing to have some guidance on how to deal with the press or media inquiries, can find useful help in the already existing, short Researcher’s Communication Guide (Intranet).

 

Stay informed

To stay up to date on the DESCOM training offers, visit the News & Events page 

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