VoYS November 2006
Organised by Sense About Science, in association with Elsevier, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and The Royal Academy of Engineering.
Voice of Young Science workshop (physical sciences and engineering)
17th November 2006
Sense About Science’s seventh VoYS media workshop was held at the Institute of Physics and was for physical sciences and engineering early career researchers. Thirty-nine participants were selected with representatives from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All were keen to hear what our panellists had to say about science and the media and to bring their own experiences into the discussion.
In the first session, Science in the Media, we heard from Professor Jim Al-Khalili, who holds a chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey and is also a Professor of Physics, Dr Andrea Sella, lecturer in the Chemistry Department at University College London and Dr Mark Miodownik, lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at King’s College London and head of the Materials Research Group; Dr Simon Singh chaired the session.
Next came the journalists - Mark Henderson, science editor for The Times, Rachael Buchanan, science producer for BBC News and James Randerson, science correspondent for The Guardian. The session started with the audience outlining their concerns about how the media operate. The journalists responded with a robust defence of their profession and gave insights into what it is like to work in a news room with its fast turn around and short deadlines. They also covered what early career researchers can do to help journalists produce better stories. The session helped the audience to understand the conditions journalists work under and how they could better work together.
In the final session, Talking about published and unpublished research, David Tempest, Associate Director of Research & Academic Relations at Elsevier gave practical advice on how to improve the chances of getting work published as well as highlighting the importance of peer review and how pre-publication was affecting media coverage of science papers. Lyndal Gully, Engineering Press Officer at the Science Media Centre then gave her top tips for dealing with the media.
Last updated: June 26 2007
