Karyavattom: The Internal Quality Assurance cell, University of Kerala and the Department of Communication and Journalism jointly organized a workshop on popular science writing as a part of the science week celebrations on March 11 and 12.
The workshop held at the Seminar Hall of the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries was attended by young researchers and media students .
National Science day is celebrated in India on Feb 28 each year to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by Indian physicist and Nobel Laureate C V Raman in 1928.
Science Day is observed to spread the message of the importance of science and it's application among people. This year, the theme is science communication across disciplines, highlighting the importance of science for humanity.
Science has become an indispensable part of all human activities. It influences all the facets of our society.
Many young researchers fail to communicate their scientific research, or science in general, with the public. The workshop discussed these issues.
Popular science communication is a type of scientific writing for popular audience.
More than 30 participants attended the workshop and they were guided by popular science writers like Prof. S. Sivadas, C. P. Aravindakshan etc. The inauguration was done by Prof. S. Sivadas, former Professor and Head, Dept of Chemistry, CMS College, Kottayam . He also delivered a lecture on science writing within his own experience. 'Anyone can write science who has a great passion for knowing and understanding science and can communicate in simple language' he said.
Dr. Anil Kumar Vadavathoor, Regional Director of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Kottayam talked about the challenges and opportunities in science journalism. It was very informative for journalism students who wished to find a career in science journalism.
'Science and science literature' was taken by prof. C. P. Aravindakshan, Retd. Principal, Government Women's College, Thiruvananthapuram. He gave a brief history of science literature as well as the present situations. Research officer of Kerala Bhasha Institute, NS Arun Kumar described the craft of science writing in which the content and style of writing was elaborated well. Participants were given by assignments to apply the extract from the lecture series. The assignments were assessed and distributed prizes in the next day.
The second day lecture began with the topic ‘Metaphors for Communicating Science to General Public' by Prof. Achuthsankar.S.Nair, Head, Dept.of Computational Biology. Digital media for Science Communication was done by VK Adarsh who is a prominent science communicator. He gave the idea of exploring digital space for science communication, with minimum cost, it can reach to a maximum audience.
Ajith Venniyoor, Faculty head, Bhavan's College of Communication and Management and Former Reporter of Mathrubhoomi daily explained 'writing science for news media'.
The valedictory session was held at 5 pm.