Status of Science Communication in India

Bridging the Communication Gap in Science and Technology

Although science has not left any aspect of the life in the modern society untouched, communicating science with general public effectively is not a trivial task. One of the major barriers for effortless communication between science and society is the complexity of the language of science, which is difficult for the society to comprehend. In India, the zenith of cultural and environmental diversity, where people hold different values for the same resources living in the same community with complicated power structure, reaching the developments of sci-Views expressed in the chapter are the authors' own and not necessarily shared by the editors.

2012

We live in a world where nearly every aspect of our lives is infused with science and technology. Science and technology provides us the solutions to fight illness, pollution and hunger, besides providing better communication and transportation. However, despite the proven achievements of science and technology and future potentials, the public's faith in science has been declining for years. Enrolment in science courses has remained stagnant or has been declining for the past several years. One of the factors responsible for this state of affairs is the way science is practiced. As an institution it has failed to keep pace with the needs and expectations of society to do a better job of communicating. Science communication generally refers to public communication of science and technology (PCST), presenting science-related topics to non-experts. This often involves professional scientists, but has also evolved into a professional field in its own right. PCST includes science

IARJSET, 2017

There is no denying the fact that, there is an increasing call for scientists and engineers to engage with the public more and more through mass media for sustainable development. The scenario of India is somehow different form the global scenario. Whether science journalism is one of the numerous casualties in the media meltdown in India is the most pertinent question of the last decade of 21 st century. The overall goal of the study was to provide evidence for funding organisations, universities and other research institutions on which they can base a workable system to reward scientists for their efforts to engage with the public. The study involved a survey of research scientists in highereducation institutes and interviews with a cross section of respondents and other relevant parties and hence 83 scientific-research institutes had been chosen throughout India. This study also includes to find the active participation of the scientists through scientific articles, regular columns, post-editorials, letters to the editor etc and hence 8 major circulated newspapers from 8 metro cities were chosen. There is a great need of policy which enable a higher proportion of younger scientists to get involved in public engagement and the need to reward public engagement activity in the career progression of scientists.

Much of empirical research published so far on science communication analysed the problem from sociological or educational perspective, ignoring communication standpoints. Similarly, a large number of studies have overlooked the process of popularisation of science among rural people and the intricacies involved in such communication contexts. The present analysis attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of science and its evolution in historical perspective and the concept of public communication of science through various methods and channels focusing on their context and application.

2020

Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current issues and recent research. But the status of science communication is uncertain in disciplinary terms. This commentary considers two dimensions of the status of discipline as they apply to science communication -the clarity with which the field is defined and the level of development of theories to guide formal studies. It argues that further theoretical development is needed to support science communication's full emergence as a discipline.

Indian Journal of Science Communication , 2017

As the human society is getting more and more dependent on S&T, it is high time the citizens to be educated on various aspects of scientific temperament and scientific literacy. We need to realize the growing importance and need of making the common man conversant with various aspects of scientific developments so that the society can lead a better life in the near and distant future. At a time when there is no dearth of information necessary for leading a better life probably in all aspects of the society, the question arises is how to utilize mass media in a judicious way to ensure that the people are benefited from such information in a convenient and comprehensive manner! We must explore the role that media can play in this direction.

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2009

which forms part of the Open University course SH804 Communicating science in the information age. Investigating science communication in the information age (ISBN 978 0199552665) is published by Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP in association with The

2017

I. INTRODUCTION This paper is an attempt to understand the complexity of science communication in India and also the very need of science communication training in different universities. In this research, the main objective is to explore the need of the pedagogic study of growing interest in science communication as an area of specialization in India in the syllabus of the universities at post graduation level. It gives a historical view of the growth of science communication, and linking it to emerging challenges and opportunities of science writing or science journalism in the country. It also gives a brief theoretical understanding of the concept of science and communication to throw a broad light on what constitutes science communicating. Science writing or science journalism remains undeveloped in India though it had a good beginning in the early 1950s, and there are many dimensions to the problems of science communication. It has not progressed to a desired stage. The larger segments of the populations even do not have