Research field: Communication & Society
Communication about science issues takes place between peers as well as between scientists and their public. This makes science communication a complex and dynamic process. To enhance the communication between the various actors in science and society, we need to find out more about the interfaces which take place. Some examples of research performed at the department of Science Communication are:
- Dialogue on neuroscience
Our knowledge about the brain has increased with amazing speed in recent decades. This has led to promises being made about how the neurosciences will impact on our society. However, the few applications of neuroscientific findings that can be found in domains such as education and the legal system often have no scientific basis. In this project, our aim is to initiate and facilitate a dialogue between researchers and societal actors. In doing so, we hope to contribute to the development of a research agenda that will result in more socially robust neuroscientific applications in these domains. - Patient participation and health research
Involving and empowering patients in health research is increasingly becoming accepted as an important goal and a way of enhancing the practical relevance and the quality of health research. Involvement of this kind requires a genuine dialogue between patients, researchers and health professionals, in which participants listen to each other, learn about each other’s experiences and frustrations, and add new experiences to their existing repertoire. However, the communication between patients and researchers is complicated by diverging interests, language barriers and the low status given to patients and their experiential knowledge. We are conducting research on how to bring about a genuine dialogue between patients, researchers and health professionals.
- Public understanding of emerging technology
In recent years the public has been confronted with many new developments in science and technology, such as biotechnology, stem cell research, nanotechnology and genomics. One such emerging technology is ecogenomics – a field of research positioned at the crossroads of biotechnology, molecular biology, environmental and soil-sciences. In our research we look at how adolescents go about making sense of something they know nothing about. By looking at information behaviours, we aim to find or develop handholds to streamline science communication processes on ecogenomics and future emerging technologies.
These are some examples of recent topics of research into Science Communication. The research is interdisciplinary and derives input from disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology and Communication Sciences. Even though this field of research is relatively young, there have been important changes in how we look at science communication. These changes have brought forth new challenges. The new theories have yet to be widely applied and our department aims to interact with science communication researchers and professionals in the Netherlands and abroad.
