Admission Requirements
Research in Science Communication is a 13-week course which is part of the Science Communication and Society specialisation. The course is open to MSc students from the Faculty of Science and to MSc students in the Biomedical Sciences programme of LUMC. Other students who are interested in following this course, should contact their own study advisor for permission.
NOTE: There is a limited amount of spots available for students who want to follow this course as an elective course and who are not following the SCS specialisation. Make sure to register in time to secure a spot in the course.
Please apply for this course through this registration form.
Description
Research in Science Communication gives students an introduction to science communication as a research field. You will learn about different research paradigms, will practice how to use communication theory to formulate research questions and will get an introduction to research methods such as interviewing, content analysis and surveys. The main focus will be on how to do science communication research. We will study good examples in the science communication literature and you will do a small literature review in this field.
Course Objectives
After completion of Research in Science Communication students are able to:
Describe various research paradigms.
Search, read and evaluate science communication literature.
Understand how and when to apply various (science) communication research methods.
Explain how to handle data and ethics.
Interpret results from science communication research.
Design a science communication research set-up.
Timetable
Preliminary schedule: Classes will take place on Monday afternoon 13:15 – 16:00h from September 4th – November 21st, 2024, with an exception for the first class which will be on Tuesday September 3rd from 13:15 – 16:00h. Room schedule will follow. The exam will be on Monday November 25th from 13:15 – 16:00h.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of Instruction
Lectures, in-class activities, self-study
Assessment Method
Throughout the course you will make a literature review and do an assignment on coding. The course will be finalized with an exam.
Reading List
Students should purchase or rent the following (e)book before the start of the course:
Stephen M. Croucher and Daniel Cronn-Mills - Understanding Communication Research Methods Third Edition, Routledge (2021)
https://www.routledge.com/Understanding-Communication-Research-Methods-A-Theoretical-and-Practical/Croucher-Cronn-Mills/p/book/9780367623661
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
**Please apply for this course through this registration form. **
Contact
For any information regarding this course or the SCS specialisation in general you can contact our department through: infoscs@biology.leidenuniv.nl.
Remarks
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.