Tangible Public Engagement in Science and Research

This is an excerpt of a message I wrote on the 17th August 2022 for the organising team of a recurring meeting of which I am a part. It's an open idea. If anyone here has ideas/comments, let me know.

"I have an idea. This is to increase engagement of the public with the science done in Indian Institutions. Simply put, when we have meetings, we could invite science journalists/ writers to attend. Complete confidentiality before public communications would be a prerequisite.

This is how I imagine this will work:
  1. Science journalists would may attend talks after agreeing not to discuss/publish the talks without prior written consent from speakers.
  2. Broad Questions / Interesting findings may be hinted at/ be part of a public communication if all parties agree.
The benefits:
  1. People get sense of research in a style that they are used to. The academic style does not appear to work, as AWSAR series might suggest.
  2. Attracting the next generation of talent to Indian research. Most students go by word of mouth/google scholar profiles and H indices in choosing places to join. While the average level and total quantum of research in India will take a long while to compete  significantly with other countries, whatever the reasons, at least the lack of awareness should not push talent away.
  3. A far away possible benefit may be that Indian fiction in Indian languages will co-opt story lines from Indian research, thus taking science in India mainstream. We desperately need this to happen if science communication is to be effective in a tangible away.
The prerequisites:
  1. Assured confidentiality.
  2. The writer needs to be competent.
  3. Speakers, need to be cognisant of speaking to a non technical audience at least at a few slides and in their conclusions.
The pitfalls:
  1. Miscommunication/ misrepresentation in the narrative for the sake of story telling or any other reason.
  2. Questions being raised about morality of expense on research as opposed to ending hunger, promoting basic education etc.
  3. Questions being raised about the choice of research subjects and their relevance to societal problems and economic growth.
… and so on.This is a thought. We’ll have to think about this. There’ll have to be consensus in the whole Club. Kinks will have to be worked out as we go. But I think it worth spending a second on this idea. ..."

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