EMBO Annual Report 04

CONTACT
Andrew Moore
Programme Manager
Alessandra Bendiscioli
Administrator
scisoc@embo.org
Sandra Bendiscioli
and Andrew Moore run
the Science & Society
Programme.
EMBO
science & society programme
The Science & Society Programme has the overall aim of making science and
scientists more accessible to society. The programme supports scientists in their
communication with non-scientists, focusing on specific groups such as teachers
and the media. Furthermore, it stimulates open dialogue on issues of intense
social interest, promoting the development and communication of modern
biology.
Rewarding science communicators
2004 could be described as the European
year of science communication. Increasing
interest in this area led the European Commission
to launch the Descartes Prize for
Science Communication. This initiative puts
into competition the winners of other communication
prizes, among them the EMBO
Award for Communication in the Life
Sciences, which is presented
annually to a practising
life scientist in Europe for
significant contributions to
public engagement in science.
EMBO proposed three
of its previous winners for
the Descartes prize, all of
whom reached the final.
Peter Csermely, EMBO winner
in 2003, won one of the
five categories for his Network
of Youth Excellence
project.
www.embo.org/scisoc
The 2004 winner of the EMBO Award for
Communication was Fran Balkwill, who was
honoured for her outstanding contribution
to science communication for children. The
full-time professor of cancer biology has
written 13 children’s science books (see p.
49). EMBO has nominated Fran Balkwill for
the 2005 Descartes Prize for Science
Communication.
Educational resources for teachers
Communication with teachers remains another
major success area of the Science &
Society Programme. In 2004, the last in a
series of nine international practical workshops
took place throughout Europe. The
workshops were co-ordinated by EMBO as
part of its EC project, Continuing Education
for European Biology Teachers (CeeBT).
Around 750 teachers were touched by
these workshops, bringing EMBO’s education
network to over 1,000 teachers in more
than 20 countries. In 2004, EMBO also sup-
ported a workshop in the Ukraine and collaboration
between EMBO and the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
resulted in further workshops in Portugal.
EMBO offers a DVD and guide for organisers
of similar events.
EMBO also supports science educators
through its annual international practical
workshop for teachers. The third workshop
took place in May 2004 in Heidelberg, Germany.
EMBO again played host to 120 of the
most motivated teachers in Europe, who
learnt new techniques in biology through
practical experiments and lectures.
EMBO/EMBL Joint Science & Society
Conference
Every year EMBO and EMBL organise a Joint
Science & Society Conference to facilitate
discussion between scientists and non-scientists
on topics of major social significance.
The 2004 conference looked at time
and ageing. From theories on why mild
stress can be good for you to doubts about
the caloric restriction model of life extension
in humans, the event presented a fascinating
variety of opinions on the potential
of living longer. Over 200 participants from
around 20 countries took part in presentations
and discussions.
Communication skills for scientists
The Science & Society Programme is engaged
in a number of activities promoting
effective communication skills. Participants
were certainly not silent at a science and
society special session at the EMBO Members
Workshop in Vienna, Austria. Organised
as an interactive communication training
session, EMBO members benefited greatly
from the experience. The annual EMBO
Science Writing Prize was also awarded at
the Members Workshop. The winning essay
by Matthew Bottomley took an entertaining
look at the importance of bacterial quorum
sensing in pathogenicitiy.
Young scientists were also coached in
communication skills at EMBO’s annual
Media Workshop, organised in 2004 in conjunction
with Bernard Dixon OBE. Film footage
of the workshop has been made into a
media skills training DVD, which is available
from EMBO on request.
A new activity in 2004 recognised that
communication ideas are plentiful among
scientists and often only need an initial injection
of cash to get off them the ground.
EMBO launched the Small Grants Scheme,
inviting enquiries from life scientists with
an interesting communications concept to
develop.
2004 highlights
‹› 3rd international practical workshop
for biology teachers
www.embo.org/scisoc/teachers04.html
‹› Teachers workshops and
educational resources
www.embo.org/scisoc/education.html
‹› 4th EMBO media workshop
www.embo.org/scisoc/media04.html
‹› Science writing prize
www.embo.org/scisoc/writing_prize.html
‹› Special science & society session
at EMBO Members Workshop
www.embo.org/scisoc/special_sessions.html
‹› Award for communication in
the life sciences
www.embo.org/awards/communications.html
‹› 5th EMBO/EMBL joint conference
on science & society
www.embl.org/aboutus/sciencesociety/index.html