The first Science Café of the year celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The event took place at the Prague House in Brussels and attracted around 80 participants.
The first Science Café of the year took place on 11 February. The debate was held on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and focused on the importance and role of women science communicators. Three experts accepted the invitation to the event. Science popularizer, editor of the portal Vědavýzkum.cz and co-organizer of the project Ask a Scientist (Zeptej se vědce) Vendula Lužná from Palacký University, and co-founder of the portal Ask a Scientist (Zeptej se vědce) Tereza Ormsby (ÚOCHB). Last but not least, science popularizer and founder of the I draw science (Kreslim vedu) Instagram profile Lucia Ciglar. The discussion was moderated by the Vice Dean for External Relations and Development of Charles University and co-founder of the portal Vědavýzkum.cz Aleš Vlk.
The event was co-organised by CZELO together with the Prague House in Brussels, the Representation of the South Moravian Region in Brussels and the Slovak Liaison Office for Research and Development in Brussels.
At the beginning of the discussion, the moderator introduced the invited scientists and their projects through which they communicate and popularize science. First, the project Ask a Scientist, founded by Tereza Ormsby together with Adéla Šimková and Kristýna Blažková, was presented. As Tereza Ormsby stated during the debate, they founded the project mainly as a reaction to the growing amount of misinformation and the growing influence of social media. The project aims to connect the public with the scientific community.
Lucia Ciglar also presented her Instagram profile I draw science (Kreslim vedu), which responds to a similar issue, i.e. the amount of unsubstantiated information and the significant role of social media in its dissemination. The profile is currently followed by 15,000 people and aims to explain scientific knowledge and theories through graphic representation.
The science popularizer at Palacký University in Olomouc, Vendula Lužná, covers the whole range of activities to popularize and communicate science. In addition to her activities at the university, she is an editor for the website Vědavýzkum.cz, where she recently published an interesting article on the topic of women in science and the declining representation of women in science, especially in higher career positions. She is also motivated by the desire to connect science with the public.
In the first part of the discussion, the topic of motherhood and careers in science was raised. The guests shared their experiences from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the USA and agreed that support from a partner and family is crucial. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, maternity leave is set up quite flexibly, but it also depends on the institution and its functioning from which the scientist leaves for maternity leave. In the USA, the situation is more complicated by the absence of maternity leave and the overall set-up of the system. The debate also revealed that many women start communicating science during maternity leave, which can be an opportunity for women to combine work and family life.
In the second part of the discussion, the guests focused on the challenges of science communication. For Tereza Ormsby, for example, finding a way to communicate scientific knowledge in a way that is understandable to the general public without compromising its scientific content was key. She also highlighted the challenge of the lack of institutional support for science communication.
Lucia Ciglar cited restoring public trust in science as both the biggest challenge and motivation.
Furthermore, the differences in science communication across different scientific disciplines were discussed, as well as the ways and means to communicate science depending on the target audience.
A recording of the Science Café will soon be available on our YouTube channel.