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Science online talks between generations
Sunday, January 17 – 9-10:05am
E. Science online talks between generations- Beatrice Lugger and Christian Rapp
Description: In huge meetings around the world several organizations try to initiate a dialogue between top scientists and young researchers –the Lindau Meetings of Nobel Laureates are one of them providing numerous opportunities for an exchange of ideas and thoughts between young researchers and Nobel Laureates. The idea is to support this dialogue with a special platform in the web, where current science topics can be discussed and the talks and thoughts can be followed by a broader public. We’d like to discuss how one can initiate a continued communication process even between two meetings. Which internet/social web tools might be useful to bridge the communication habits of a younger generation with that of an older generation?
The question is if one can organize such a dialogue with a special platform in the web, where current science topics can be discussed and the talks and thoughts can be followed by a broader public.
To get some impressions of the Lindau Nobel Laureates meeting itself please visit the website, click through the archives, read in the annual reports and take a look at the actual list of Nobel Laureates who are expected to join the next meeting (the participation list of young researchers will be online by the end of April 2010).
The aim is to promote the scientific communication between generations. Five short films presented by Nature Video, show some kinds of such a dialogue. Join Laureates and young researchers as they discuss the future of medicine, consider the ethics of nanotechnologies, plan new collaborations, and seek ways to avoid dangerous climate change.
Surely there also exists a blog during the meeting and we are acitve on Facebook and Twitter. Till now the traffic on these plattforms abruptly drops down after the meetings and grows up some weeks before the next one. We’d like to find new ways to encourage a continuous dialogue. Any further ideas?
Discuss:
Beatrice 1/13/2010: Some more specified questions:
Do students and PhDs want more contact and exchange with established science generations at all?
Is there a need for more exchange beyond existing alumni networks of Universities?
How could public science communication profit from such an exchange?
Which tools might be useful beyond that ones named above?
Beatrice 1/13/2010: To give you a better idea, why the exchange between science generations is especially valuable in our view read what Nobel Laureate Chalfie says about the students he met at Lindau in 2009:
“…From their reading or from simply listening to my talk, the students generated a large number of fascinating questions. They wanted to know details of the experiments and they wanted to discuss potential futureexperiments. Conclusions about my research that had taken me years to realize (and which I have not written about or described in my talk) were instantly suggested by several of the students at the session. Seeing their excitement and quickness was humbling, but also invigorating. These conversations about the work continued through to the end of the meeting (including on the trip to Mainau), and I was impressed by how intelligent and interested the students were. I wanted all of them to come to my lab.” full Nature Chemistry Commentary
And read what young researcher Jeffrey Lancaster (participant in the 2009 Lindau Meeting) says about the meeting:
“…conversation and the sharing of ideas were fostered not solely between scientists with comparable levels of experience, but also across scientific generations and geographies. I had worthwhile discussions with my peers from Australia, China, India, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain (to name but a few), and was able to speak to scientists at various stages of their careers, from undergraduate to graduate students, postdocs, professors, governmental scientists and, of course, Nobel Laureates.” full Commentary in Nature Chemistry
