The Arab world has a serious problem when it comes to science communication. To put it frankly, there’s hardly any of it – and what little there is is of such bad quality that the public is not interested in even coming close to it (that is if they even heard of it).
While science journalism is booming here (even though it is shrinking in many places in the West), public engagement to raise awareness of science and innovation remains minimal. There are a few really good initiatives to engage the public with science, such as FameLab or Stars of Science – but they are few and far between.
But some young students from the German University in Cairo (GUC) who are passionate about science decided to take their fascination a step further and launch the first student popular science magazine in Egypt. This could even be the first such student effort in the Arab world.
The magazine, which they are calling The Vector, will start by covering research on and off the GUC campus in a format accessible to anyone interested in science. It will also cover research happening internationally, with articles that span both physical and biological sciences.
“With a heritage of poor science curricula in terms of content, approach and presentation simply speaking the world ‘science’ is sufficient to invoke a string of dull memories to the average Egyptian,” says Youssef George, the editor-in-chief of the new magazine. To counter this, he suggests the written word will not be enough. “In a community in which most individuals gather information from audio-visuals, it is inevitable to go for that at a later phase.”
The magazine will start as an online publication, launching its first issue next May. However, the students hope to have a monthly print edition by September 2013.
The magazine will stay a student project, so when the current students graduate they will be replaced by new students, always keeping fresh blood flowing. “The transient nature of university life makes it impossible for any one person to stay in their position for too long,” says Sara Khaled, the magazine’s managing editor. “The dynamic nature of the team would always ensure that the quality of the production is based on a coordinated team effort, rather than the individuals running it.”
High on the agenda of the launch team is to build a solid foundation that others can build on and grow in the future, once they have graduated and left university. They will not completely leave the project behind, however, but will continue offering advice and support to the subsequent teams taking the magazine forward, explains co-news editor at The Vector Reham Tarek, always keeping them motivated and passionate about what they are doing.
To start if off, the students are relying on freelance volunteers to supply the stories and articles. A long recruitment process on campus has yielded many interested people who were excited to take part in the effort – even several not majoring in sciences. “We want to give them the opportunity to learn and grow as part of The Vector team. This is the core part of our vision.”
It is this vision, which every member of the team completely believes in, that is driving force for the project. Their belief that they must help “gradually refine science-centred thinking, both locally and regionally, and to continuously help nurture it with the best of science news from all over the world,” as Alaa Madi, the chief biological sciences editor puts it.
“What keeps us motivated is that we are starting out at a time where there are many science communication initiatives that have paved the way, such as Nature Middle East, SciDev.Net and FameLab, that have collectively created a scientific awakening and encouraged us to continue from there,” adds George.