Internship with The Naked Scientists

Opportunity to join the Naked Scientists:

Could you strip down science to it's bare essentials?

Looking to kick-start a career in science media? The Naked Scientists have an opening for an intern to join their award-winning team this summer.

The successful applicant, who will also receive a cash award of £1000, will spend a period of 8 – 10 weeks gaining experience in making science radio programmes and podcasts, web development, science writing, video editing and production.

"The Naked Scientists" broadcasts on BBC radio stations across the UK, and worldwide as a podcast, which is consistently near the top of the iTunes Science podcast charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Their unique approach to science communication features a range of presenters who interview renowned scientists and researchers from all over the world and take science questions on any subject live from the listening public.

This internship, which is supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), is open to UK-based students (including Masters and PhD students and recent graduates) who hold or are registered for a science or engineering-based University degree.

Whether you’re interested in live radio; writing news or features; producing online video or developing online content, let us know what you think you could bring to the Naked Scientists, and what you would hope to get from the internship. Please include both email and telephone contact details.

Those wishing to apply should send a CV, cover letter and any additional supporting documents to Ben Valsler, The Naked Scientists, Dept. of Pathology, University of Cambridge, CB2 1QP.

The deadline for applications is April 1st 2011, selected applicants will be invited to interview in early May.

For further information please email Ben@thenakedscientists.com

Web and new media for public engagement

Top tips

• Set up a Twitter channel
• A University of Bristol blogging platform is available (though this is unsupported)
• Use the services of the Institute of Learning and Research Technology (ILRT)

Pitfalls

• Resources to manage, for example:
• YouTube requires editing and checking footage
• Quality control
• University Facebook page - managing interactive areas
• You can go in as organisation or business
• Portal to areas in University site
• Need a dedicated staff member for social networking

Lessons

• Set up a news feed from your department - Twitter
• Good marketing
• Access to audiences
• Entry on Wikipedia? But this needs monitoring
• Wiki - four official entries for University of Bristol
• Mobile platform

Challenges

• Creating communities - be honest
• No resources to keep even normal web pages updated
• Officiality?
• Anyone can set up a social networking group - how to keep track of this?
• Information Services - provide tools for interactivity
• There's a potential to miss audiences if we ignore Facebook, Twitter and others

How can CPE and the Web Editor Team help?

• Review outdated sites
• Talk to heads of department about the importance of the web
• Massive digital footprint
• Need to prioritise
• Continue this group - action learning set