Joint written evidence submitted by Dr Nik Sultana, Dr Jatinder Singh and Professor Jon Crowcroft, FRS (COM0015)

We are academics from the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. We have a strong interest in improving scientific communication and outreach in order to broaden public understanding of technological developments, and encourage more to become engaged with the STEM subjects.

We propose two schemes, as potential experiments, that aim to broaden the scope of scientific communication.

Proposal 1: Science shadowing

Public awareness of — and engagement in — science is usually mediated and curated by the media, journalists, entertainers, and the scientists themselves. Though these activities play an important role in making science accessible, they are contrived, being a step removed from the actual scientific process.

We propose a complementary, more direct form of engagement, similar to the idea of jury service.

The idea is to provide a mechanism for members of the public to shadow scientists as they work. This would give exposure as to how hypotheses are formed, tested, and results evaluated, and provide insight into the nature of scientific communication and collaboration — be it with other academics, students, the media, and so forth.

Rather than feeding off the scripted presentation of science, this allows one to see science unfold first-hand.  Quoting the Terms of Reference, we feel this idea has potential in assisting with the challenges regarding the "persistent misconceptions about how scientists work, concerns about how well science is regulated and a low level of trust in mainstream science journalism.”

Our proposal bears similarities with the successful Royal Society Pairing Scheme, which couples scientists with MPs and civil servants to facilitate exchange. Though rather than targeting policy makers, the aim is to open up academia to the general public.

Proposal 2: Laboratory artists in residence

Scientific communication typically takes place via the media or public events.

To complement these more standard outreach activities, we propose a scheme where laboratories take on an “artist in residence”. The idea is for these artists to work alongside scientists to channel ideas, scientific processes, results, and potential impacts of the research across a range of artistic mediums, such as illustration, music, dance, theatre, interactive exhibits, etc.

The goal is for the artists to educate, provoke, challenge, excite and inspire. We expect their outputs to impact not only the general public, but also the scientists, by providing new perspectives on their work.

April 2016