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Science Communication
School of Biosciences,
Faculty of Science
Course description
We believe that science holds the key to making the world a better place, and that when science is misunderstood, the consequences can be dire. Science communicators are essential, and we want to train you to do it well.
This course will help you to develop the skills to communicate science effectively to a wide range of audiences. It's designed around developing you as a science communicator, rather than being a marketing course, and is taught by leading scientific researchers, professional science broadcasters, and experts from the School of Journalism, Media and Communication.
Through hands-on training, you’ll learn how to engage, educate and entertain people without the same specialist knowledge, covering the latest topics in science. You’ll target a range of different audiences, from science policy and business sectors, to the general public from all ages and backgrounds, giving you an insight into the breadth of potential science communication careers you could pursue.
Training can cover:
- Audio: receive storytelling training ready to create your own short podcast. You’ll do the scripting, interview subjects, pitch your story, and gain the technical skills to record and edit your episode in the industry standard Adobe Audition.
- Video: we’ll show you how to create video content suitable for various platforms. You’ll receive training in how to operate a camera, lighting and sound, and use the Adobe Creative Suite including Premiere Pro to edit your footage and create slick clips.
- Photography: you’ll learn how to use specialist cameras, and Adobe Photoshop, to create and edit images to take your digital science communication to the next level.
- Public engagement: you’ll work with your course mates to run an event for schools and deliver this as part of a science fair.
- Journalism: understand the nature of social science research and the agendas that drive science communication by studying research methods.
- Data journalism: learn how to seek out stories within datasets, and bring those stories to the public via news media.
- Communicating with the media: learn how to get your story out there, and run a strategic media campaign.
- Ethics: discover the relationship between science, the media, and the wider public, and the role that science communication plays in society. You’ll cover journalism ethical standards expected by the British Association of Journalists.
By completing these activities you’ll develop a range of skills and experience to include on your CV, whilst also building a portfolio of high quality science communication work that you can take to interviews.
Your final project dissertation will allow you to put the skills you’ve learnt into practice and can be based around a print, broadcast or digital portfolio, an event you've organised or a work placement you've completed. Previous students have based their dissertation around work they've completed at organisations ranging from National Geographic, to the CERN research institute in Switzerland.
This is your opportunity to showcase your skills and independence, and gain additional experience to launch yourself into the next stage of your career.
Example past research projects include:
- An analysis of language and framing in cancer related news coverage
- What is the future of the Yorkshire Fossil Festival? Gaining perspectives from exhibitors, organisers, and visitors at the festival's 10th anniversary
- Let them lead the way: engaging children in climate policy
- The role of social media in the dissemination of public health messaging
- Writing women into the history of science; challenging the gender gap in STEM
No matter what your science background is, if you have a passion for science communication, this course is for you! Our students have studied undergraduate engineering, maths, physics, biology, chemistry, psychology, and everything in between. At Sheffield, you’ll be embedded in a diverse and supportive group of peers as you take your first steps towards your science communication career.
Modules
Core modules:
- Engaging with the Public
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In this module you will work in a small group to plan, organise and deliver a public engagement or schools outreach event. This will be based on a piece of research that has been or is being carried out in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield. The course will start with a series of workshops that cover the guiding principles of developing and delivering an effective and engaging science communication event. This will include, among other things, audience and venue considerations, choosing a science topic, budgeting, risk assessment, contingency planning and evaluation. You will also attend, reflect and report on a real-life public engagement event. Finally you will, in your group, prepare the materials and resources required to stage an effective science event, deliver it to a public audience and critique its success.
15 credits - Science Communication Skills
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Science communication is a fast-paced and rapidly changing field. This module will introduce the latest technical, editing and media techniques needed to produce cutting edge visuals and audio for any online audience. The course will introduce a wide range of topics, designed to cover the huge breadth of science communication options in the Digital Age.
30 credits - Research Methods
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This module is designed as an introduction to social scientific research methods as applied in the communications, media and journalism fields. The module provides an overview of key research methods, and the different ways in which research can be conducted. Topics covered include surveys, questionnaire design, focus groups, interviewing, ethnography, content analysis, discourse analysis and different aspects of information search, reserach design, project management and research presentation. The module is designed to make students aware of basic skills in these social science research methods and to equip them to conduct small scale projects on their own, or in groups.
15 credits - Communicating with the Media
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This module will provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to communicate messages through the media. Case studies and practical workshops will allow students to learn about the practice of media communication. They will learn how the media operates and how to communicate messages through interviews, press conferences and news releases. Topics covered in the module will include the development of communication strategies, the understanding of news values and news cycles and strategies for successful and ethical communication.
15 credits - Topical Science
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What are the current 'hot topics' in science? Why are these important? This module delivers the skills to take new scientific research and communicate it to a range of audiences. The module focuses on written communication, covering a broad spectrum of writing styles including news articles, opinion pieces, features and stories. The aim is to develop students' abilities to research and communicate exciting new scientific research both within and beyond their own areas of expertise.
15 credits - Ethics and Regulation
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This module examines some of the major ethical controversies in journalism. Students will explore debates about the tension between freedom of expression and the exercise of responsibility, and about the need to balance privacy rights with publishing material in the public interest. There will also be study of regulation, truth-telling, media representation of vulnerable groups and journalists' relationship with their sources. Students will explore how ethical behaviour is encouraged in journalism, and consider how the industry codes seek to achieve this in the UK.
15 credits - Dealing with data for journalists
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News reporting relies increasingly on knowing how to understand and analyse data. "Now that information is abundant, processing is more important." (Philip Meyer). Data science is the scientific discipline that feeds into this new type of journalism. It provides methods for collecting and systematizing data, which is then analysed using a combination of statistical and machine learning techniques, and finally presented in an appealing and understandable format. This module will equip students with the confidence to appreciate and apply the most widely used statistical techniques, which constitute the very core of data science and, hence, facilitate responsible evidence-based journalism.
15 credits - Science Communication Project
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The project exercise provides the student with a choice of three pathways to undertake a piece of scholarly research work in the area of Science Communication. These include critical analysis of the literature, developing experimental methods to test a hypothesis, or a practice based approach (which may include an optional work-placement).
60 credits
The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.
Open days
An open day gives you the best opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and staff about our courses.
You may also be able to pre-book a department/school visit as part of a campus tour.Open days and campus tours
Duration
1 year full-time
Teaching
Teaching is led by expert scientists who have a wealth of experience in sharing their work with the public, and professional journalists with backgrounds in print, broadcast and online journalism, from Fleet Street to the BBC and Channel 4.
You'll also meet regularly with your designated personal tutor and your project dissertation supervisor.
At Sheffield we have a long track record of delivering excellent science communication and outreach work to a huge variety of audiences. Projects have included local and national festivals, schools activities and media work, giving you plenty of opportunities to get involved and put your skills into practice alongside your studies.
Meet Dr Tori Herridge
Science Communication MSc Course Director and Senior Lecturer in the School of Biosciences
“My academic research focuses on evolutionary biology, and the impact of environmental change on the natural world. I use the Pleistocene (aka ‘the Ice Age’) as a study system to consider these topics in a ‘real-world, real-time’ setting.
“I also have a parallel career in science communication, with 20 years experience in the Museum sector and 10 years experience in specialist factual broadcasting. I have presented multiple TV series for Channel 4, National Geographic, PBS, and the Smithsonian Channel, radio series for BBC Radio 4, and I am an ARIA-award winning podcaster. I have science writing bylines in The Guardian, The Observer, CNN, The Evening Standard, and Nature.
“My unconventional career path means I straddle the worlds of science AND science communication, with real-world experience and networks that span the industry – from broadcasting, to museums, to publishing – and this underpins my teaching. I can’t wait to share this with you all.”
Assessment
Assessment is 100% coursework based and includes, but is not limited to, a written and creative portfolio of print materials and digital content, reflective pieces, spoken presentations, practical exercises and a dissertation.
Your career
Through practical training and opportunities to get involved in science journalism, film and audio production, public engagement and event organisation throughout your degree, you’ll be in a great position to pursue exciting careers across science, technology and the media.
Previous graduates are now working in press offices, newsrooms, research institutes and charities, in roles ranging from marketing and communications, to planning, outreach and education.
Example roles include:
- Development Editor, Oxford University Press
- Science Journalist, Research Publishing International
- Senior Medical Writer, International Medical Press
- Events Assistant, The Royal Society of Biology
- Corporate Communications Manager, NHS Education England
- Press Officer, Zoological Society of London
- Senior Partnership Manager, Nigeria Health Watch
By choosing to study with us, you'll join our global alumni network, where our employed graduates are working in the science communication industry and related fields around the world. Explore our interactive map of graduate destinations:
Entry requirements
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in a relevant subject.
Subject requirements
We accept degrees in the following subject areas:
- Archaeology
- Biochemistry
- Biology
- Biomedical Science
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Earth Science
- Engineering
- Genetics
- Geography
- Geology
- Human Sciences
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Physics
- Psychology
- Zoology
English language requirements
IELTS 7 (with 6.5 in each component) or University equivalent
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.
Fees and funding
Apply
You can apply now using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.
Contact
study@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 2341
Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.
Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.
