Communities Happenings is a weekly post with news of interest to NPG’s online communities. The aim is to provide this info in one handy summary. Listings include tweetups and conferences which we’re attending and/or organising as well as new online tools, products or cool videos. We also occasionally flag up NPG special offers and competitions plus updates about NPG social media activities such as new accounts you might want to follow. Do let us know what you find most useful!
Tweetups and Beer!
Science Tweetups provide an excellent opportunity to meet local scientists and science communicators for an evening of chatting in the pub. For those interested in the next #camscitweetup, UK, it will be held this coming Saturday May 26th and will be a special #SciBeerCamb celebration, coinciding with the Cambridge Beer Festival. So if you like beer and science, do feel free to join us in person at the festival (details will be announced soon) or check out the online conversations using the hashtags.
For those on the other side of the Atlantic, keep an eye on the #DCscitweetup and #NYCscitweetup. The next #NYCscitweetup will coincide with this year’s World Science Festival and will take place on the 2nd June, details can be found on their Facebook page.
TalkFest
May’s TalkFest from London’s Biochemical Society is entitled, “Science Communication and Political Divides”, looking at whether science communication can overcome political divides and be as truly neutral as science strives to be and whether it should even try:
A common caricature of science is that it likes to think of itself as above politics; a disinterested, purely empirical interaction with the natural world. But what about the public communication of science? Can it strive to avoid political divides? How might it do so? Should it even, or is it time science communicators came to terms with their role as passionate political actors? From culture wars surrounding evolution to false balance and reporting climate change, join us for what promises to be a lively debate.
Panelists include Dr Michael Brooks and Dr Steve Cross and the event will take place between 6:30 – 8:30pm at Charles Darwin House, London. If you can’t attend in person, there will be lots of online discussion, so keep an eye on the #TalkFest hashtag.
New-look naturejobs.com
Over the past 12 years the Naturejob’s team have worked hard to craft the Naturejobs website into an eminent career resource for scientists. In that time, with your help, they’ve become the largest dedicated jobs board for the scientific community worldwide. That’s why they’re excited to share the new naturejobs.com with you.
The re-launched site offers a fresh new look and improved functionality which lets you search, save and apply for jobs even more quickly and easily. Here’s how the new site can help you with your job search and career development:
- Apply for jobs faster by uploading your CV and cover letter to your account
- Find exactly the right job using the advanced search option, now delivered via filters on the left-hand side of your search results
- Get jobs that match your search keywords sent to you by email using our improved job alert sign-up process
- Easily find useful science career news and features in our archive by filtering articles by date, discipline, career stage and more
- See the very latest updates on science careers and jobs news via the Naturejobs Twitter feed, which has been integrated into the site
This is just the first phase of the new naturejobs.com – watch out for further new features and improvements to the site over the coming weeks. Feel free to leave feedback.
The Geek Manifesto: Why science matters
Mark Henderson’s new book, The Geek Manifesto, has received a lot of attention since its release this month. As one of Britain’s highly regarded science communicators, Mark argues that scientific evidence is critical to public life, highlighting how we need to acknowledge the value of science in our politics. He calls geeks and aspiring geeks to take action.
You can find a list of events associated with Mark’s book tour, including readings and interviews, here. Finally, you can read Nature Network blogger, Pete Etchells‘s thoughts about Mark’s book in his latest post.
Story Collider Event #IamScience
Co-founded by Ben Lille, The Story Collider in New York gives select scientists and science communicators an opportunity to share their experiences on a particular topic. They will soon be celebrating their two year anniversary and you can join their birthday celebrations on May 22nd at the Bell House in Brooklyn. They are hosting a special “IAmScience” event on the twisted and unorthodox paths to careers in science.
Details can be found via their Facebook event and to read more about, The Story Collider you can check out Ben Lille’s guest post, On Science and Social Media – #IAmScience and the unexpected tweets.
Video
Our colleagues in the Nature Video team have produced this great video to accompany a new paper in Nature, which reports that two people who are unable to move their limbs have been able to guide a robot arm to reach and grasp objects using only their brain activity.