Communicating science to the public can be a balancing act, especially for academics who are used to speak about their science to peers that share a considerable amount of background knowledge. Many scientists believe that they need to ‘dumb down’ their research in order to make their audience understand it and fear that it will ...

Column by Marie Chancel, post doc at Karolinska Institutet, about her principles as a reviewer.

Hands on heart – not everyone has the time or wants to dedicate their time to pursue science communication besides their research career. That’s okay. But, even if you do not plan to communicate science to the lay audience, being present on social media can have benefits for you as a scientist. With that I ...

Scientists are extensively trained and therefore the experts in their fields. Accordingly, there should be no better person for communicating the significance and limitations of their research than them. However, this is only true in part. While some of them are natural communicators and already take part in public outreach and science communication (scicomm), there ...

Social media were originally created to help people stay in touch when they are separated spatially or temporarily. They were so successful in connecting people that they became an omnipresent part of people’s lives. Anything that gets posted to social media has the potential to reach a lot of people. Just like in real life, ...

Column by Ulrikke Voss, lecturer at University of Oslo, about her walk from Ystad to Abisko and the 28 scientists she met on the way.

The increasing popularity of social media platforms such as facebook, Instagram, twitter, and TikTok, has greatly influenced the way information are spreading nowadays. An estimated 3.6 billion people worldwide have been using social media in 2020 (statista.com), from which a growing group of people is even relying on social media as their primary source for ...

Column by Ana Amaral, post-doctoral researcher at Karolinska Institute, about how to bring down barriers between the scientists and the general public.

Column by David J. T. Sumpter, Professor at Uppsala University, about how he realised that public understanding of science is not just about the public understanding of his science. It is also about him understanding what the public knows.