Author: ac6810

Sense About Science – thoughts after 4 weeks

Here I am at the end of my 4th week at Sense About Science.

What can I add to what I have already said? This internship has been an incredibly positive experience, both from a personal and a professional point of view. I cannot say I am sorry it’s over because I don’t think of it as something that’s over for me. I have been rethinking much of my research work in light of what they do here. I believe it helped me deciding what I want to do next, where I want my science to bring me.

So, here are my 2cents for any postgraduate student wondering whether the Charity Insights project is worth trying or not.

Sense about Science – second half

At the end of the third week of this pleasantly sunny and warm September, while helping with packing some books for an upcoming event, I found myself mentally going through my to-do list, thinking what I have done and what still needs to be finished.

At the end of October Sense about Science will be awarding the Maddox prize I already mentioned, a recognition to people who are committed to clear communication of science despite adversity. The nominations for this prize were 55 this year and needed to be read through, their information checked and summarized. I had gone through the candidatures carefully, looked for the material on line, put together a summary of each profile, trying to be at the same time accurate and complete, but synthetic.

Sense About Science – Halfway through

The second week at Sense About Science has been packed with old and new things. I feel I am learning a lot and getting more involved in the office actvitities, which is a great feeling. The day starts always with the news: the entire office team gathers and skims the newspapers looking for articles reporting science-related stories. The purpose is to check if these accounts are reliable, if the science is reported in an accurate way, if the claims made are actually evidence-supported or not.

If they sound unclear or dubious the team discusses about the opportunity of asking the newspaper or the person who made a statement for some science-based evidence.

Sense about Science – The very beginning

Just a few minutes before the bell tower of St James’ Church opposite our office strikes 5, I suddenly realize one week has already gone by and it is time for a blog post.

I entered this office Monday, not even one week ago, but I already feel I have found my space here. When I knocked on the black door of 14 Clerkenwell Green I was carrying a backpack and dragging a 18kg suitcase with all my stuff for the coming 4 weeks.

The moment I got off the last bus and walked towards the office of Sense about Science, the charity where I will do my internship, all the thoughts and expectations I had about this new experience suddenly came back to me and evaporated in a few seconds, replaced by an excited feeling of curiosity.