Science Communication
About
The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU was the first science communication centre in Australia and is now the most diverse of its kind in the world.
The Centre’s mission is to encourage a confident democratic ownership of modern science nationally and internationally by increasing science awareness in the community, fostering public dialogue about science, and improving the communication skills of scientists.
Through research led education our students become skilled communicators who can engage people with the science, technology, or medical information that is most relevant to them.
Our research investigates the ways science is being communicated in the public arena, new ways to excite the public imagination about science and methods to encourage informed decisions about scientific issues that concern us in the 21st century.
We are global leaders in our field, developing methods to encourage informed decisions about the big scientific issues.
We are an accredited Centre for the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, and boast partnerships with the Alan Alda Centre for Science Communication at Stony Brook University in New York and Shell Australia amongst many others.
Facilities
The 348-hectare ANU Kioloa Coastal Campus is one of Australia’s premier field stations, offering a diverse ecology which encourages research across all scientific disciplines.
The ANU MakerSpace is an initiative by the Research School of Physics and Engineering, where we know people learn by doing.
The CPAS Podcast Studio is open to staff and students throughout ANU (not just scientists!) to record and grow podcast series. Your success is our success: we want to help you make the biggest and best podcast series in the world.
Our new $240-million science precinct on the ANU campus has state-of-the-art biological and chemical research laboratories, as well as a teaching hub.
Designed by Eggleston, MacDonald and Secomb, the Forestry Building (#48) was officially opened on 16 May 1968 by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh with the unveiling of a wooden sculpture in the building’s main foyer.
Articles
Dr Matt Nurse shares an insight into his research on dissemination of misinformation and his aspirations for a future where science communication is more crucial than ever.
Science communicators are not evangelists for the science-only worldview of scientism. Many science communicators think very deeply about what values matter to people, and how to reach their audiences.
Time and again we return to the promise of a weight-loss drug, whether it’s a pill, injection, or tonic.
Transdisciplinary scientist Dr Ehsan Nabavi from ANU CPAS has been named as one of Australia’s best emerging thinkers and communicators, being selected for the 2023 ABC TOP 5 Media Residency Program.
Street art is more than just a pretty (sur)face.
The course description begins: “Would you like to make a difference to the world, but are not sure how, or where to start?” It’s a bold opening gambit, but this particular course is prepared to be bold.