#SciCommMake: Marrying Science and Art for Better SciComm

We’ve all heard the term STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. What about STEAM? The “A” stands for Art, because art is a beautiful and fun way to connect complex topics, attract interest to cool research, and explore science in new ways.​

Science Talk and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society, are partnering together on a new project to connect scientists and artists/creators to create new creative products. #SciCommMake will form teams of scientists and artists while providing them with expert advice and the chance to win funding to create projects that share evidence-based scientific research findings with non-traditional scientific audiences. 

The project starts with a virtual match-making session and informational event on April 20th (time TBD). By the end of that session, scientists and artists will find partners and develop a project concept. Each team will then be paired with a scicomm coach to help them develop their project idea. Then, on April 30th, each team will pitch their idea to a panel of judges (and members of the scicomm public!). Two teams will be selected to receive $1,000 each to complete their projects, thanks to support from Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The two teams will have five months to create and test their products, which will be featured at the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference from November 5–8, 2020, in Alexandria, Virginia, particularly during a public science day. In addition to the prize money, registration and travel expenses to the Sigma Xi conference will be provided for up to two members from each team. Products will also be featured at the Science Talk ’21 conference in Portland, Oregon.

Are you a scientist who wants to share your work in a new and creative way? An artist excited to use your talents to make science fun and accessible? We’re looking for visual artists, musicians, graphic novelists, poets, videographers, and more! Sign up here to participate in this exciting new program. Priority will be given to attendees of the Science Talk ’20 virtual conference on March 26-27, where Sigma Xi CEO Jamie Vernon presented a talk about the project.

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