Science communication at VU Amsterdam
Within the framework of the national Recognition & Rewards programme and inspired by research of the Athena Institute, VU Amsterdam is working on an innovative initiative that will strengthen the dialogue between science and society, as well as between academics themselves. This unifying initiative is led by Frank Kupper, who is developing a strategic plan, together with his research team and other VU colleagues, that will be published later this year. In it, they will elaborate on the shape and form of the initiative. Think of support for VU researchers on science communication, shaping an interactive dialogue and establishing networks between VU and societal partners.
Bridge builders in splits
Frank and his team published the research report 'Bridge builders in splits', in which they found that science communication is still far from an integral part of academic duties. As a result, researchers lack the required time, resources and support. Efforts in this area are made in their private time and these are not sufficiently recognised and appreciated by their employers. To change this, the report offers advice to universities to make science communication a fully-embedded part of academic jobs. For this research, Kupper's team received an OSCAward from the Open Science Community Amsterdam.
National Expertise Centre for Science & Society
At the national level, the VU initiative will be encouraged by the Expertise Centre for Science & Society, which will be established in the coming months. The coordinators of this centre, Ionica Smeets and Alex Verkade, presented their recommendations to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science last week. The national centre will play a connective and supportive role. However, it will not be developing or financing communication projects and research or provide training, as the intention is for knowledge institutions to take these kinds of actions themselves. The action-oriented VU initiative will therefore seamlessly complement the national centre.
