If you are a restless person and a lover of Science who is finishing a scientific career or a doctorate, but you are not sure that your future lies in a laboratory as a researcher, you have always been good at explaining or even teaching others, and you believe that you make the difficult easy, it is possible that your vocation is that of scientific popularizer.

Science communication is a creative and exciting profession in which you never stop learning and in which you need to acquire a series of communication skills.A scientific popularizer will be a person with a vocation to communicate, to explain, to teach. It is a profession that can be made compatible with others related to teaching or research, although the most important thing is to have the talent and enthusiasm to communicate, to explain in a simple way how scientific and technological discoveries are produced, in order to make them accessible to everyone. Anyone.

How to be a scientific popularizer?

There are generally two access routes to training in this profession: through a master’s degree to be a scientific disseminator or through self-study. The decision on one method or another depends on geographical, economic and personality factors. A master’s degree in popular science is a perfect tool to explore all the variables of this profession and decide which field you feel most comfortable in (mass media, networks). You can gain confidence and communicate quality science to your audience. In addition, the internships offered by a master’s degree are very interesting to be able to differentiate yourself and as a gateway to make yourself known.

Look for market niches

Nobody is going to look for you at your house. To be a science communicator you have to be proactive. Find a niche market that has not yet been exploited and give it your personal approach. It can be a good start to start writing a blog about the topics that interest you. And you should also take advantage of the opportunities that arise in the world of social networks. Social networks are a perfect place to experiment and create a personal brand. Many of today’s great scientific communicators have started working with a blog on networks.

Learning to communicate is an art

Learning to communicate, how to write a popular science article and being a good science popularizer is an art, but it can be mastered thanks to training.   There are three types of professionals related to science communication: the science popularizer, the science journalist, and the science communicator.In the first case, the university’s master’s degree trains researchers for the scientific communication of their work. As for the scientific journalist, the training offered by this master’s degree allows the journalist to treat information on scientific and social culture with rigor. To them is added the scientific communicator, who thanks to our master’s degree could develop the dissemination skills of R&D managers and those responsible for the communication areas of organizations that produce knowledge.

Famous Science Popularizers

Although popularization of science has developed throughout history, Galileo Galilei is credited with being the first to define it in his work Dialogues on the Maximum Systems of the World (1632), where three characters talk for four days about the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic visions. and Copernican of the Universe.

Today, scientific dissemination is carried out in all social media, newspapers, television channels such as the Discovery Channel or the National Geographic Channel. And some informative works have become true best-sellers, such as Stephen Hawking ‘s A History of Time or Carl Sagan ‘s The Dragons of Eden.

Demand for scientific information

Society knows the importance of scientific advances and therefore demands more and more scientific information, especially related to innovation, science and health, nutrition, technology, etc. Being an expert in technology and science, brings to others the findings, discoveries, artifacts or devices that are of interest to society and that can change their lives. Professionals are required to offer the necessary quality to transmit their knowledge rigorously and responsibly. All this knowledge, techniques, strategies and ways of communicating are learned in the Master of Scientific Dissemination that this year has been included as a novelty in the educational offer of the Isabel I University.