EVENT – National science communication congress between Wednesday and Friday in Braga

The 12th SciComPt Congress will bring together around 270 participants between May 80th and 10th, in Braga, in particular at the University of Minho and, on the first day, also at the Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and the Centro Ciência Viva.

Artificial intelligence, accessible science and citizen involvement are some of the topics in focus. The extensive program includes 114 communications, 21 demonstrations, 12 plenary and extended sessions and four training workshops.

The organization is the responsibility of SciComPt – Science and Technology Communication Network in Portugal, UMinho – through the Center for Communication and Society Studies, the Mathematics Center, the Institute of Social Sciences and the School of Sciences –, INL and the Living Science Center.

“It is the meeting point for a wide network of professionals, academics and scientists to discuss practices, experiences and advances in this field”, says professor Elsa Costa e Silva, member of the board of the master’s degree in Science Communication at UMinho.

The plenary sessions will address the union of art and science with the British academic Emma Weitkamp (8th, 3pm, INL), the effects of artificial intelligence with the spokesperson for the Science Park of Andalusia, Lourdes López Pérez (9th , 9:00 am, auditorium B1 on the Gualtar campus) and, also, science open to everyone with the director of the Native Scientists project, Joana Moscoso, the vice-coordinator of Observa at the University of Lisbon, Ana Delicado, the director of Documentation Services and UMinho Libraries, Eloy Rodrigues, and the science editor of “Público”, Teresa Firmino (10th, 9 am, auditorium B1).

The workshops are on the morning of the 8th, at the Centro Ciência Viva, proposing to make creative videos with few resources, measure the impact of science dissemination, raise awareness of animal research and emphasize citizen science.

The demonstrations are scheduled for the afternoon of the 9th, in the hall of building 2 on the Gualtar campus. They include suggestions such as comics, trading cards, virtual reality, bingo games, labs in a box, cinema, community garden, zines, educational video games, podcasts and social media channels. The objective is to disseminate everything from cosmic rays to microbiology, from sleep to laws, from the oceans to dinosaurs.

The communications, taking place in up to eight spaces in parallel on campus, will focus on broad topics, namely new audiences, open platforms, science in bars and on social media, European Researchers’ Night, behind the scenes of communications offices, errors in publicity, learning outside the classroom, inclusive projects, young people and climate change, mental health, the work of museums and science podcasts in Portugal. The event also includes the general assembly of SciComPt and a visit to Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.