Outreach
YAL connects academics to society.
What do we do?
The Young Academy Leiden believes that scientific findings should contribute to society as much as possible. The goal of the workgroup outreach is therefore to stimulate interaction between researchers and society.
The outreach workgroup has three focus areas:
1. We participate in existing initiatives (such as the Night of Discoveries) and we organise events ourselves in order to enable (young) researchers to communicate their research findings to the general public.
2. We connect young researchers to existing initiatives and expertise on outreach at Leiden University. We do so by providing an overview of the existing initiatives which can serve as a source of inspiration for researchers. This overview also highlights gaps (for example the need for a specific course) that in turn serve as input for our workgroup’s initiatives. We act as a broker between young researchers and outreach initiatives and trainings.
3. In collaboration with the policy workgroup, we discuss how we can make sure that knowledge utilisation and science communication is valued as much as the more traditional scientific output such as academic articles.
Activities and projects
YAL now has its own lecture series!
In collaboration with Studium Generale, YAL organises a lecture series called 'Young Academy Leiden'.
In this new and lively lecture series, YAL members and other young researchers of Leiden University will present current insights from their research field to a wider audience.
The Young Academy Leiden lecture series serves as a stage for young scientists. Although thematically diverse, each of these lectures is given by a young researcher passionate about science and communicating research findings to the general public. During each lecture a young researcher will discuss innovative and cutting-edge research and discuss its implications for today’s society.
The lecture series started in February 2020. For more information and details about the lectures, see Studium Generale & YAL.
YAL helps with science communication and public outreach
The Young Academy Leiden believes that, as an academic community, we should engage in science communication and public outreach as much as possible, and luckily many early career scholars are eager to share their insights, knowledge and expertise with the general public.
However, while there is a fair amount of guidance for young academics when it comes to, for instance, preparing academic articles and presentations or writing funding proposals, such guidance is relatively sparse for the aspiring science communicator.
We have brought together the available resources in the Outreach Resource Platform. Check it out here!