Parade of creative science communication products

Right before the Christmas holiday, the lecture hall at the Sylvius Building is full of students, researchers and other people involved. Master students of the Science Communication & Society track gave their presentations on science communication products they had developed for clients. In eleven short pitches, the students presented their work. It yielded very diverse results, for young and older people, in all sorts of products and topics.

Paint with moss

The Hortus botanicus Leiden was one of the clients with their project 'Stoepplantjes' or street plants. Several groups of students developed creative products to engage young people with common street plants and to open their eyes to plants in the city. The students came up with a portable exhibition including a vertical garden of seasonal plants, a quartet card game and instructables to do experiments with common plants, like building your herbarium and painting with moss. The products will be further developed and available on the Hortus website, according to client Hanneke Jelles from the Hortus botanicus Leiden.

Programming with kids

Multiple projects were developed for primary school teachers and/or school children. One of them focused on increasing teachers' knowledge about programming, commissioned by Felienne Hermans from the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS). For her, the students developed a website for teachers who want to implement programming, but often don't know where and how to start. A new quick start guide plus website should help them on their way.

Bioplastics by microorganisms

A completely different product is the Polymer Podcast that was commissioned by Han de Winde and Arthur Ram from the Institute of Biology Leiden. The students developed two podcasts with an adult audience in mind: a Dutch one about microplastics and an English podcast on bioplastics produced by microorganisms. Han de Winde was pleased with the result and asked the students whether they were available to do a whole series of podcasts. So perhaps this will follow up as well.

Math bedtime stories

Another group of students developed a remarkable product for kids from five to eight years old: a book with bedtime stories on mathematics. The lecture hall was completely silent when the first part of a story was read aloud about the four colour theorem. The book is written in Dutch, but the client Francesca Arici from the Mathematical Institute at Leiden University hopes the book will be a success, and that translations will follow. The students are in contact with a publishing house and hope that their product will turn into a real book.

Now that they finished their training, the Master students will start with their internships in January. In September 2020 a new batch of science communication students will develop products. Ideas for projects are welcome!