Science Communication

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

Kioloa Campus

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.

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The ANU MakerSpace is an initiative by the Research School of Physics and Engineering, where we know people learn by doing.  

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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.  

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Science precinct

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.

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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.

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Articles

A smiling man in a white embroidered shirt

Dr John Noel Viaña is a bioethicist at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU researching how to promote greater diversity, inclusivity, and equity in biomedical and health research.

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Statue of justice

When science evolves, we need better mechanisms for reviewing the legal decisions based on that science.

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A smiling woman leaning against a glass staircase

Growing up queer in Townsville, Emily Standen knows about the importance of role models: "I don't think that I really thought queer people could be scientists. So from my own experience, I know that it's hard to be what you can't see. You can definitely do it - someone has to be the first - but it's not an easy thing to do.”

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Lego Storm Trooper

On Star Wars Day we take a look at some of the things that keep us coming back to one of the most famous science fiction epics of all time.

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Hands at computer with ChatGPT on screen

The issue of AI authorship is now clearly on the minds of commercial academic publishers. Many have asked whether ChatGPT could be considered an academic author.

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