When I applied for the Science Communication Fellowship at IIASA, I was excited at the prospect of working at an international institute and the exposure it would give me to breakthrough research.
That it would be one of the best summers of my life is something I had never imagined. I am glad that scientific institutes such as IIASA recognize the importance and need for science communication, particularly because a lot of good research fails to create an impact, as it often remains unused to solve real world problems.
Over the summer, I worked closely with the participants of the Young Summer Scientists Program (YSSP), and learned a lot about different disciplines I knew nothing about at the start. That itself has been challenging – to understand complex scientific work and then write about it not only in a way that is easily understood by the readers but also makes them curious to find out more. However, at the end of these three months I can say that it has been a very rewarding and fulfilling experience as well. With a team of experts at the communication department guiding me all along I have learned more about science writing itself. The rigorous process of writing, editing, feedback and further editing not only polishes the work but also helps produce a much better output. One of the best things was that feedback and suggestions were never imposed. Even while working with experienced science writers, I felt that my voice was always heard and I was given the space to write in my own way.
I wrote for a number of communication channels at the institute, including Nexus, the IIASA blog, Options magazine, and the IIASA website. This involved exploring different writing styles – news style, features, interviews, profiles, and event pages.
Apart from work, I thoroughly enjoyed the numerous social events, which helped me interact with people from different cultures and countries working at IIASA. Not only has this experience helped me professionally, but also forged friendships for life with people from all corners of the world.
Three months seemed to have passed by in a flash, but the memories will most definitely last much longer. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and honored to be a part of this community.
Parul works with the Media & Communications team at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, India. She focuses on communications strategies helping to engage with the government, media and think tanks with the ultimate objective of bringing about policy change toward sustainable development.
It is almost impossible to put into words what my time at IIASA meant to me. Coming from a scientific background, I was familiar with working with formal academic texts, but during my internship I learned how to communicate complex scientific concepts to a general audience — which requires a totally different set of skills. Under the expert guidance of the IIASA Communications Department, I acquired and developed the necessary skills to do this, within their working environment. I was also honored to have my work published on Nexus (the IIASA blog) and in the Options magazine.
During the internship I was exposed to a variety of science communication areas. For example, interviewing scientists and writing press releases, feature articles, profiles and project pages. In addition, I had the opportunity to explore the positive effects of incorporating multimedia and social media into the communication process. Lifelong friendships and professional connections were made during my three months at IIASA. I was working in close connection with participants of the Young Scientists Summer Programme (YSSP), but the friendly and extremely professional IIASA family crept deep into my heart. The internship once again made me realise how extremely important communication between scientists and the rest of the world is. More often than not, fundamental information is not getting “out there” or even worse, getting out there in a misleading way. I would strongly recommend that such internships remain part of the IIASA mission to train and develop young people and to help form their careers. Read Anneke's blog posts on Nexus. Anneke is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiological Sciences at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She studies the effect of different ratios of omega-6 and omega-3 oils on the progression of breast cancer.