CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) organised a Science & Technology Communication workshop in collaboration with Global Health Strategies (GHS) on 11 June 2024 at the Pusa campus, New Delhi. This one-of-a-kind initiative brought together science communicators, scientists and educators from various backgrounds to discuss how scientists and researchers can interact with the media and use social media platforms to communicate technical evidence and research in simpler terms for the layperson.

The workshop commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR-NIScPR, who emphasised the need for such collaborative efforts to promote scientific understanding. She described CSIR-NIScPR’s initiatives to cater to the needs of various sections of society through research, capacity building and communicating in multiple Indian languages. She also highlighted the need to continue such initiatives in the future to ensure continued growth. This was followed by opening remarks by Dr Rajni Kant Srivastava, Senior Advisor, Global Health Strategies & Former Head, Policy and Communications Division, ICMR HQ and Director, ICMR-RMRC Gorakhpur who spoke about CSIR-NIScPR and ICMR’s collaborative efforts in training scientists in science communication.

The first session of the workshop was “Mapping our Communications Needs”, moderated by Kaushik Bose, Vice President and Mirza Shadan, Director of GHS. This interactive session included an exercise by the participants on communicating in different ways based on specific target audiences. The next sessions were Understanding the Media Landscape in India and Understanding Messaging for Journalists, and Mastering Media Interactions, conducted by Sanjana Chowhan, Senior Communications Consultant, GHS. She described how scientists can communicate with the media. This included pitching stories and using various formats and approaches in storytelling. It also addressed the various nuances of interacting with the media through a Simulation Exercise: Interacting with Media.

Tamseel Hussain, Founder and CEO of PLUC TV, conducted the session “Making S&T Go Viral: Communications for Social Media and Mastering Social Media Content: An Exercise”. He discussed how various social media platforms can be leveraged to engage diverse audiences.
The workshop concluded with Dr Paramananda Barman, Scientist at CSIR-NIScPR, delivering the vote of thanks.