The events of the recent pandemic, the explosion of public interest in so-called Artificial Intelligence, the fears over the “ new GMOs ” (obtained by genetic editing) and the hopes for immune therapies against cancer, if they have (re)foregrounded the sciences in their everyday making, have also shown all the fragility of the communicative triangle at whose corners are the researchers, the public not involved in research, and public and private funders (in institutions, both; in business, only the latter). For too long, science communication has been understood as a two-way process between " scientists " and " public ", a model that has clearly shown its limitations and that, perhaps, on the other hand, has never been compatible with the structure and dynamics of the ecosystem in which research, applications and funding are present with different actors and complex relationships. We want to show, with this course, how the relevant entities in science communication, are not only the scientists as much as the companies and institutions in which research, at different levels, is carried out. In order to achieve that stable balance, sustainable and innovative at the same time, which we could call “scientific progress,” it is necessary that in enterprises and institutions there be figures of experts in the communication of scientific content at the same time able to dialogue with the economic, legal and political aspects that characterize them.
The objective of the course, based on these premises, is therefore to supplement the training of students, who deal in a more or less integrated way with these latter topics elsewhere in the Study Program, with science communication skills, aimed, however, at the training of quite specific figures such as, for example, the Public Information Officer and his analogue in the business sector (media officer or media manager).
Among the expected learning outcomes are:
-the understanding, in its heterogeneity also depending on the disciplines, of the process of scientific knowledge construction; in particular, the role of publication in specialized journals also in knowledge validation;
-the understanding of the differences between various types of publications generically defined as “scientific” present in various media;
-the ability to analyze the argumentative/narrative structure of the scientific article and to use it appropriately in writing a press release and its amplification (or replacement) with analogues in different media;
-critical awareness and consideration of ethical issues in the use of sources (articles, interviews, unpublished documents) when writing releases;
-the ability, with respect to ethics, to adapt the preparation of the press release (or analogue) to the nature of the client (business vs. institution) intertwined with that of the recipient.