ESCI - European Science Communication Institute

Did you know that the best time to drink your morning coffee might not be right after you wake up? ☕🌞 Our SciCommer Daniel Hölle told us why in our #FridayFunFacts. 🌟 Our bodies produce a hormone called cortisol, which helps us feel alert and awake. Cortisol levels are naturally highest shortly after waking up. Drinking coffee during this time can diminish its energising effects because your body is already naturally alert. For a better boost, try having your coffee at least 45 minutes after waking up, when cortisol levels begin to drop! 📈☕✨

🚴♂️ Our company joined “Stadtradeln” again! For the second year in a row, our team proudly took part in the Stadtradeln challenge, a German city cycling competition aimed at promoting climate-friendly transportation. Over 21 days, the goal was simple: Cycle as many everyday journeys as possible to reduce our carbon footprint. Together, we cycled an impressive 2,000 km and saved nearly 350 kg of CO2 emissions! Special praise goes to our colleague Fabian, a keen cyclist, who wrote and recorded a fun, motivational music video for us. As inspiration, he used the name of the event as a verb ‘stadtradeling’ the way our non-German-speaking colleagues would pronounce it for fun 🎶🚴 We can’t wait to participate again next year, and it’s great to see so many of our colleagues cycling to work regularly. Let’s keep the wheels turning for a greener future! 🌱💪 #HealthyLifestyle #Sustainability

What did you do in your doctoral thesis? A questions many doctorate students have to answer often. Some, however, also write a popular-scientific article about their work. This is an important part of making research and its results accessible to non-experts. It is great to see that initiatives like the Klaus Tschira Stiftung in Germany encourage young researchers to explain their thesis and its importance in the written form. Congratulations to all winners of this year's writing competition! One of the recipients of the award was our colleague Daniel Hölle who is passionate about science communication inside and outside of work! #ScienceCommunication

Good and bad science journalism❓ Dianna Bautista: Science is rooted in fact while journalism considers aspects such as storytelling. They both are searching for ‘the truth’ albeit in different ways, but by looking at all the evidence and giving the outcome. The best examples of science journalism avoid bias and combine the fact with storytelling, so that the reader takes away knowledge but also an enjoyable read. It answers the question of why should a reader care about this topic and puts the topic into the bigger picture. The not so great examples of science journalism can lack that perspective and fall into the trap of being too complicated. Sometimes an article can spend too much time explaining the background that they lose the audience before getting to the main point of the story.   How do you make science accessible to non-experts❓ I think a common response would be to say ‘dumb the science down’, but that doesn’t really do justice to the science, researchers or audience. As a science communicator, your job is to explain complex science in a language that the audience can understand. What this means, is breaking down the concepts so that the audience has enough of a foundation to follow along as you go more in depth about a topic. Here, using relatable scenarios or visualising the science via analogues can be very helpful.   Why is fact-checking important❓ Facts matter. And accuracy is important. There is a growing amount of misinformation and, worse, disinformation. With all this false information it makes it more crucial, and yet difficult, to be able to sort the fact from the fiction. That’s the aim of fact-checking. It’s important to get the details correct and put your information in the correct context. It’s important to correct inaccurate statements, particularly when made from influential individuals who could, for example, impact the way someone votes or acts. Especially considering the everyday person might not have time to check the accuracy of this person but sees this person as a trustworthy individual.   How to deal with AI-generated information and its accuracy❓ AI isn’t perfectly accurate, but at the same time, there are AI based tools specific for fact-checking that can really aid the process, especially for items where there is a general consensus of what is fact and fiction. But at the end of the day, I think as with anything, it really depends on the source of information. If the source for the AI is biased or incomplete, then the answers you receive from the AI will reflect that. My advice would be to check your answers against other sources.   Dianna Bautista has a background in biochemistry and science communication. As a fact checker, she has worked with magazines and organisations including TED, Transmitter Magazine (previously Spectrum Magazine), and California Magazine. As a journalist, she covers environment and biology topics and is passionate about fighting misinformation. #ScienceJournalism  

Since a few weeks a new science communication intern supports our team: Dhanashree A. She has a background in neurosciences and is passionate about creative tasks. Two aspects that align well with the work of a science communicator. We asked her a few questions to get to know her better:   🚌 How do you commute to work? By bus or sometimes by bike. I can listen to music, which energises me for the whole day.   👩🔬 What is your former profession and how does it help you with your role in ESCI? Working as a tester at a corona test centre, Hiwi job, or mini job in the laboratory helped me develop organizational skills and the ability to handle work situations with a positive and friendly approach, even under stressful conditions.   💧 What is your favourite beverage while working? Water: Stay hydrated and stay focused   📚 What is your favourite popular science book? “Gene Machine: the Race to decipher the secrets of the ribosome” by Venki Ramakrishnan. I love to read about DNA and ribosomes, i.e. understanding protein synthesis which is done by the ribosome machinery. I was able to attend the author’s launch event and get the book signed by himself. 🎙 What are your hobbies? Singing, dancing, cooking, DIY, watching creative videos to learn more – my hobbies are endless, and they help me to recharge and also calm me when I’m stressed. 🌟 Why does working at ESCI excite you? I have a creative and visual mindset, and love to make new contacts, learn about new science discoveries. ESCI is a great platform for all the amalgamations of it.     #sciencecommunication

How does managing communication for environmental issues differ from other scientific fields❓ Luiza Beirão Campos: Everyone remembers the video of a straw being pulled out of a marine turtle's nostril and the pressure to ban plastic straws that followed. Environmental issues often require emotional responses from people to make them care and act. Especially when our planet is under so many different and urgent threats. What is an important thing that people often forget when creating content about science❓ Data and facts are critical, but we connect with stories. We want to learn about the people doing science and how they are navigating their research. Most of the stories we encounter are about change. How a young boy in London became a wizard, or how a house looked before and after a TV show came on. Just like we follow stories everywhere, we also want to see how a scientific result or emerging technology came to be - from idea to result. Why is it important to build public trust and awareness of science related topics❓ Scientists have a good reputation, but there is still a big gap between what is being researched and "normal" people's lives. Most of the public doesn't easily understand science and most research results are in scientific papers that are expensive to access and difficult to read. Almost all research is funded with public money, so it's essential that everyone can access it and be able to see the results of the research contribute to everyone's well-being. Chameleon or niche expert – who’s the better communication manager❓ A communication manager should be a chameleon and know a little bit of everything. Also, learn how to use other people's niche skills to their advantage. Learn how to interact and get the most out from specialists, graphic designers, videographers, content creators, etc.   Luiza Beirão Campos is a science communicator with over 7 years of experience providing a range of services in communication strategy, project management, content creation and social media management. Luiza has successfully worked with universities, not-for-profits and environmental NGOs, as well as local and international institutions, offering expertise in both communication and environmental research. #Communication #ScienceCommunication #Conservation

How important are follower numbers❓ Elena Milani: Having many followers shows interest in your content; however, few followers don’t necessarily mean your communication is ineffective. If you have many followers but little engagement, your content might not be as good as you think. Fewer, highly engaged followers who like, share, comment, and DM you are more valuable than many who ignore your posts. Moreover, consider the quality of your followers: are they members of your target audience? Are there influencers or opinion leaders among them?   What do people misunderstand about communicating science on social media❓ We often assume that social media is essential for reaching our audience, but that's not always the case. Your audience might not be active on these platforms, or there could be more effective ways to connect with them. For example, if your audience is local, it's often better to engage with them in person. Moreover, being on social media doesn't mean you need to be on every platform. Start by identifying where your audience is most active, and how much time and resources you can dedicate. For example, if you want to reach young adults, you should consider Instagram or TikTok. Between those two, you should think how demanding it could be for you to prepare content. Additionally, avoid simply copying and pasting content across platforms, as each has its own algorithms, formats, and communication styles. The simplest example is using a horizontal picture made for LinkedIn on Instagram as it is; it will compromise the readability and quality of the picture.     X – should scientists stay or leave❓ It depends. If their community or audience is still active, it is worth staying on X rather than starting from scratch on a new platform. However, it may be better to move on if their audience has left or become inactive, if they are uncomfortable with some changes like the push towards videos over external links or if they are uneasy about the ethical concerns that the platform has raised over time.   Quality or quantity❓ When it comes to data, both quantitative and qualitative insights matter. Tracking metrics like followers, reach, and engagements is important, but it's also crucial to understand who follows you and what they're saying about you. For example, are the comments to your posts positive or negative? What can you learn from them? And regarding your followers, you want to know what they do, where they are from, and whether any standout individuals are worth a deeper connection.   Elena Milani is passionate about data analysis and science communication, particularly through social media; an interest that began in 2011 and was further developed during her PhD. With her strong background and experience in biology, science communication, social media analysis and management, she excels in interpreting analytics and crafting effective strategies and campaigns across diverse research fields. #ScienceCommunication #SocialMediaAnalytics

Science in a pub? That’s what we did last Thursday in Oldenburg, Germany. 🍻 Facts about dementia and how to detect it early, and about the latest developments in construction and 3D printing from Oldenburg did bring interested citizens to the bar “Artischocke” last Thursday evening. People even gathered outside the bar and were all ears as Prof Dr Mandy Roheger and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Hollermann were talking about their research. Our science communicator Sabine Alexandre-Klein was there and got to experience how curious the Oldenburg audience is about science facts. It was fantastic to see how interested our fellow-citizens are in the research that is being conducted in our city. The two science talks, were part of the format ‘Hirn vom Hahn - Wissen frisch gezapft’ at which 16 researchers give short scientific lectures in 8 pubs on a wide range of disciplines. As every year, ESCI was involved in the preparation and realisation of this event, alongside many different educational and research institutions that have joined together to form the Oldenburg Network for Science Communication. We are already looking forward to next year, when it's time again for: Hirn vom Hahn - Wissen frisch gezapft!" #WissKomm #Wissenschaftskommunikation Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI) DiZ Neurosensory Research Center ForWind - Center for Wind Energy Research HIFMB Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment Institut für Ökonomische Bildung (IÖB) Jade Hochschule OFFIS - Institute for Information Technology Oldenburger Energiecluster OLEC e.V. Schlaues Haus Oldenburg gGmbH Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

Meet Larissa Markus, a master’s student from Wageningen University & Research who completed a 6-month internship at ESCI. During her time here, Larissa worked on avariety of projects, including tasks for the Harmony Project EU, from social media management to designing the project’s website and handling partner communication. She was also a key player in the Social Media team, contributing to and creating content for the Instagram channel Science Shake ⭐ . We truly appreciate her valuable contributions and wish her a bright future in Science Communication! 🚀 #ScienceCommunication #SocialMedia #STEMCareers #WomenInSTEM

Who played a transcendental role at the time of the moon landing by mankind? 🚀 Our project manager and science communicator Alexandra Scherer explained it to us in our #FridaysFunFacts. On July 21, 1969, humans set foot on the Moon in the historic Apollo 11 mission. 🌕 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins etched their names in history that day. Behind the scenes, Margaret Hamilton played a crucial role in the Apollo 11 moon landing as the lead software engineer for the Apollo Guidance Computer at MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. Alongside her team, she developed the software that controlled the guidance and navigation systems of the Apollo spacecraft. She wrote code for a real-time operating system, prioritising reliability to safeguard the mission and astronauts' lives. Her software guided Apollo 11's lunar module safely to the moon and back, securing her legacy as a software pioneer. One anecdote often associated with Hamilton's work is her balancing of motherhood with her demanding career. It is said that just days before the Apollo 11 launch, Margaret Hamilton brought her daughter, Lauren, to work with her. Lauren accidentally caused a problem with the computer by pressing a few keys on the Apollo Guidance Computer. This incident underscored the need for robust error-checking in the software, as even a small mistake could have had catastrophic consequences during the mission.