Karel Žídek has received one of Europe’s most prestigious ERC grants. Karolína Morávková made it to the Falling Walls Lab final in Berlin thanks to her research. Eduard Seibert attracted international attention with a light fixture created with the help of bees.
They all have one thing in common. They are doing top-level science outside Prague.
That is also the theme of this year’s Sdílej vědu! conference, taking place on 12 October at the Technical University of Liberec, with support from the Regional Development Agency and the Liberec Region.
How can cutting-edge research from the regions be communicated in a way that reaches people, businesses and the media?
“As I spoke to the individual speakers, it naturally became clear that science communication at regional universities comes with its own specific challenges. We operate in a different environment from large universities in major cities. That makes it all the more important to share experience and look for approaches that genuinely work,” says Eva Doležalová, conference organiser and science communicator at the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation (CXI TUL) at the Technical University of Liberec.
Science needs to be visible
One route leads through social media. Ondřej Michal, Head of Communications and Marketing at TUL, will show how powerful these platforms can be for popularising science.
“Digital times call for digital communication. If a university wants to popularise its scientific findings effectively, it needs to embrace social media. Fortunately, it is not complicated at all — the key is to communicate clearly, authentically and attractively,” says Michal.
This, he argues, is exactly where marketing can help science. Not by changing its substance, but by finding the right way to bring it to an audience.
“Science is a high-quality product. What matters is how well we can make it accessible to people,” he adds.
In his talk on digital science communication, he will present concrete examples of how universities and researchers can use social media to reach a broad audience. Using data from TUL, he will also show that more deliberate communication and a clear visual style can significantly increase the reach of scientific content.
Communication is not an optional extra
Today, top-level research does not end with publication. It only has real impact once it reaches people, businesses or policymakers.
Karel Žídek from the TOPTEC Centre at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, a recent recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant, therefore asks a question that goes to the very heart of academic culture.
“We routinely present our results to colleagues as an integral part of our work. So why is communication beyond this circle still seen by some researchers as an additional burden?”
Keep it simple. But not simplistic
How do you explain climate change to people who do not have the time to read scientific papers? Josef Trögl from the Faculty of Environment at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University argues that the key lies in simplicity — but not the kind that strips a subject of its context.
“Communicating environmental research requires us to ‘keep it simple’, while at the same time resisting ‘global simplification’,” he says.
According to Trögl, excessive shortcuts can distort complex environmental issues, whether on social media or in the news.
Every research project has a story
Science popularisation does not begin with a dry press release. It begins with finding the story.
Lenka Mannová from the University of Hradec Králové will show that even the most complex scientific study contains a subject that a broad audience can understand — provided someone knows how to tell it well.
Who will communicate science tomorrow?
Social media, artificial intelligence and new formats are changing the way science is communicated today. But they do not change what matters most.
Astrophysicist Tomáš Gráf from Silesian University in Opava makes a simple point.
“The form of science communication is not what matters most. The facts are.”
Enthusiasm is not enough
Much of today’s high-quality science communication depends on people who do it alongside their main job. According to Tereza Mašínová from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, however, that is not sustainable in the long term.
“High-quality science communication and popularisation require time, experience and resources. They cannot be built on volunteer work.”
Research into the female body — from the margins to the centre of innovation
Reproductive biotechnologist Karolína Morávková from CXI TUL is developing nanofibre systems for drug delivery in the gynaecological environment. Her research earned her recognition in the Falling Walls Lab competition and took her all the way to the international final in Berlin.
“Female reproductive health was neglected by science for a long time. But that is changing. It is not only an important research topic, but also a great example of just how much it matters how science is communicated to the outside world,” says Morávková.
Talking technology to businesses in their own language
Developing a new technology is not enough. Real impact comes only when businesses understand it, adopt it and turn it into innovation.
This is exactly what Jan Kočí from CXI TUL has focused on for years: connecting research teams with industry and helping companies put new technologies into practice. In his talk, he will explain why communication is just as important as the research itself — and how to talk about technology in the language of the people who decide whether it will actually be used.
His work shows that the success of innovation often depends not only on the quality of the technology itself, but also on the ability to explain its benefits to the people who can make use of it.
When students become the teachers
Lectures do not always have to be given by professors. Ondřej Linhart from the Faculty of Economics at TUL will show that sometimes students themselves can have the greatest impact. In a project supporting social entrepreneurship, they are the ones heading out to primary and secondary schools.
“Together with the Liberec Region and the Regional Development Agency, we are developing a project to support social entrepreneurship. Our students teach at schools instead of academics. The first school visits have shown that the project is off to a strong start,” says Linhart.
Good science is not enough. It needs to know how to present itself
In science, we spend years learning how to conduct research, work with data, formulate conclusions and defend them before the academic community. We devote far less time to learning how to present our own work to the people around us.
That is exactly what Eduard Seibert, architect, designer and doctoral student at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture at TUL, draws attention to.
“For many scientific activities, self-presentation is more important than mathematics. How many semesters have we devoted to it?” he asks.
His own work shows how powerful a story can become when it crosses disciplinary boundaries. He brings together architecture, design, research and the world of bees. His Beehive light fixture was created not merely as a design object, but as the result of collaboration between a human being and a natural process.
Science as part of regional development
Stories like these show that science communication is not just about how research is perceived from the outside. In the regions, it can also determine whether research results make it into practice and become new opportunities for businesses and people.
“Top-level research is being done in the Liberec Region. But it is not enough to come up with something brilliant and then hope someone notices. We need to know how to bring science out of laboratories and into businesses and society. That is how new ideas, new companies and higher-value jobs are created. And it is also what gives talented people a reason to come and study, work and live here in the Liberec Region,” concludes Edvard Kožušník, Statutory Deputy Governor of the Liberec Region for Economic and Strategic Development.
The Sdílej vědu! conference and the subsequent NET conference will show that the quality of research does not depend on a postcode. Whether it changes the world often depends on how well we are able to talk about it.
