SciComm lite is our bi-annual flagship workshop that started as an initiative to provide guidance and mentorship to students, researchers, and scientists alike at any stage of life with a comprehensive view of Science Communication. Being a relatively new field, Science Communication is still somewhat unexplored with scarce learning resources. Hence, SciComm Lite aims to take you through a weeklong journey of awakening to understand the landscape of science communication. Here, you can explore the field as a career and learn through various fun tasks/activities.
Who should participate?
This workshop targets novice science communicators looking to deepen their understanding of the field of science communication. The name of the course is deliberately chosen to showcase that this is a workshop for anyone who would like to find out:
- If SciComm is your cup of tea (or coffee!?).
- If you would like to explore the field of science communication but do not know where to start.
- You need help in finding out how you can create content to communicate science to your target audience.
- Potential ways to communicate science simply and creatively.
- If you need the push to work on your first piece of content, get personalized feedback from experienced science communicators and also stand a chance to publish it.
- Need the first nudge to start building your portfolio.
If you nod your head in affirmation for any of the questions above, then this workshop is for you!
What’s in store for you?
Throughout the seven days, you will receive guidance and constant feedback from our mentors and learn through their journeys and real-life experiences about various aspects of Science Communication. The workshop will help you gain invaluable insight into the life and experiences of a SciCommer, helping you navigate through the field as a beginner.
This will help you push through the blues and finally start working on your content as a SciCommer. In the end, you will have identified your skillset, gained extensive knowledge, and have a chance to publish your first piece of content.
The idea of the workshop is to understand the needs of the aspirants of science communication. We will intentionally keep the size of the cohort low to provide the participants with an immersive experience.
Criteria for Selection
We welcome any student or researcher in the sciences who is interested in furthering their interest and understanding in navigating the field of science communication. We strongly recommend beginners in science communication to consider this opportunity. We are keeping the batch to a 30 member audience to provide personal attention and feedback. The registrations happen on a first-come basis.
Important Dates
| Date | Description |
| 16/09/2021 | Registrations open, limited to 25 seats |
| 7/10/2021 | Deadline to apply for Scholarship |
| 9/10/2021 | Announcement of selected participants for Scholarship |
| 11/10/2021 to 17/10/2021 | Workshop |
| 18/10/2021 onwards | Pitch content, feedback, and publication |
Format of the Workshop
Each session will go on for about 90 to 120 minutes, including the discussions. See below to find the detailed schedule. We will be working with the mentors to make the sessions as hands-on and interactive as possible. In addition to the workshop, at the end of the week, all the speakers participate in a Panel Discussion, discussing — Building Solutions to Compensate for the Lack of a SciComm Ecosystem in India
After the workshop is concluded, the participants are allowed to put all their learnings to use and pick one of the assignments posted by each mentor and submit it (in a couple of weeks). The participants will also be encouraged to engage themselves in a collaborative project rather than just individual pieces of content. After a brief screening process, we will share the pieces with the relevant mentors to peruse the submissions. The participants are then free to make the edits and pitch it to SciRio, where their first piece can be published.
Note: We encourage formats of content that are beyond just informational/descriptive. We will encourage them to create more diverse content and interactive activities that can be produced and executed with the support of SciRio.
Schedule
| Date | Day | Time (in IST) | Session | Mentor |
| 11/10/2021 | Monday | 1900 – 2100 | How to find and pitch engaging science stories | Shreya Ghosh |
| 12/10/2021 | Tuesday | 1900 – 2100 | The Editorial Process and EDI representation in your content | Aashima Dogra |
| 13/10/2021 | Wednesday | 1900 – 2100 | The many tongues of science: Opportunities and challenges in transcreation | Spoorthy Raman |
| 14/10/2021 | Thursday | 1900 – 2100 | Podcasting with IndSciComm | Abhishek Chari |
| 15/10/2021 | Friday | 1900 – 2100 | Drawing science | Ipsa Jain |
| 16/10/2021 | Saturday | 1900 – 2100 | Marrying SciComm and Sci-Ed in schools | Somdatta Karak |
| 17/10/2021 | Sunday | 1700 – 1830 | Jumpstarting your career as a Science Communicator and Feedback | Suchitha Champak |
| 17/10/2021 | Sunday | 1900 – 2000 | Panel Discussion | All Mentors |
Feedback from SciComm Lite 1.0
We received wonderful feedback from our participants for the SciComm Lite workshop held in February this year. Watch the video below. You can check out the event report here to get better insights into how valuable this workshop has been.
Write to us at outreach@scirio.in for any queries with the subject line, including the phrase – “SciComm Lite Oct 2021”, and we will get back to you at the earliest.