UGent researchers to be honored by The Science Communication Steering Group of the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts on 17 October 2013 in the Academy Palace in Brussels

30-7-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — The Science Communication Steering Group of the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts (KVAB) in Belgium recognises research efforts with a special award. Prof Johan Braeckman of the University of Ghent will be awarded the career prize. The shortlist of 13 annual prizes includes 7 UGent members.

Award ceremony on 17 October

The ‘Academy Science Communication Award’ is a unique way of recognising and valuing efforts made by researchers in the field of science communication. The award is open to scientists from all universities, university colleges, scientific institutions and enterprises. The Steering Group was particularly pleased with the high number of applications for this prize, in which 61 people participated with entries illustrating their passion, efforts and motivation.

The awards will be presented on 17 October 2013 in the Academy Palace in Brussels. Laureates and other participants (professionals in science communication) will be able to discuss the various ways in which science communication can be accomplished.

Career prize for Johan Braeckman

The award is presented in two main categories. The Career Prize is intended for people who, in addition to their continual outstanding achievements in science communication, also have a strong presence and impact on specific science communication tools. The Academy has selected Johan Braeckman as the laureate for the Career Prize. Members of the jury specifically praised his many efforts to explain with a high degree of transparency the specific characteristics of philosophy and finesse of scientific thinking in general. Johan Braeckman always manages to achieve this using an enthusiastic, stimulating and inspirational approach.

Annual award

The annual award is intended for scientists who in 2011 or 2012 developed an original activity and managed to combine it with their research activities in a convincing manner. The following 7 UGent employees (in alphabetical order) reached the shortlist:

Gino Baart

Gino Baart is a plant systems biologist at UGent. He promotes Vestrock (Junior) University at the Vestrock festival in Hulst (NL). The festival theme is ‘Mixing Music, Art & Science’. Vestrock University aims to give festival participants easy access to information and provide inspiration with respect to sustainability, climate change and other popular scientific subjects. The Junior section is open to young people. Everyone is given the opportunity to enter into an open dialogue with interesting, inspirational and prominent speakers.

Maarten Boudry

Maarten Boudry (philosopher of science) is well-known, among other things, for a number of opinion pieces in the media and the book entitled ‘De ongelovige Thomas heeft een punt’ (‘The doubting Thomas has a point’), written in conjunction with Johan Braeckman. The realisation that the fallibility of human reasoning is often the basis of pseudoscience and irrationality is a valuable insight to be communicated to society. This book is a novelty in the Low Countries as this sector tends to be dominated by Anglo-Saxon authors.

Karen De Coene

With the ‘Liber Floridus 1021’ exhibition, the Ghent geographer Karen De Coene managed to illustrate the difficult to access medieval world view on the basis of an original manuscript. It enabled her to demonstrate that the need for clear communication to museum visitors can be met without compromising on content. Another realisation is the ‘old map reading’ course in conjunction with the Institute for Permanent Science Education.

Lieve Gheysen

Lieve Gheysen, the director of IPBO UGent, was in charge of the field experiment with Phytophthora resistant potatoes in Wetteren. Communication was essential during this process and contact was maintained with the press from the outset. The field experiment has a significant impact at both a scientific and a social level. Whereas in the past this issue rarely surfaced even in agricultural colleges, this particular example is now being used extensively to explain the technology and to enter into dialogue.

Gert Peersman

Gert Peersman (economist) is mainly known for his fortnightly column in ‘De Standaard’ (Belgian newspaper), in which he covers current economic affairs and thus contributes to opinion forming. He wrote ‘De Perfecte Storm’ (The Perfect Storm), which deals with the causes of the financial crisis (including the banking, euro and ageing population crises) and looks at how we can reverse the situation. He not only focuses on scientifically based ‘Popular economics’, but also provides policy advice.

Wim Verbeke

Wim Verbeke, who is an agricultural economist at UGent, published a number of notable opinion pieces in the period between 2011-2012, including ‘Iedereen terug aan de komkommer’ (Everyone back to cucumbers) and ‘Zij die honger hebben verdienen beter dan voedselhulp’ (The hungry deserve better than mere food aid). He knows how to react quickly, accurately and decisively to news items that appeal to the wider public. He tests his scientific knowledge of the economy, marketing and consumer behaviour amongst lay people prior to publication. This encourages readers to adopt a more critical approach.

Francis Wyffels

Francis Wyffels (robotics) is co-founder of Dwengo, an NPO that offers classroom scientific experiences using micro controller programming. The micro controllers are multifaceted electronics modules. Youngsters are given the opportunity to work with the robots and teachers are encouraged to introduce technology to the classroom in a playful manner. This ensures that young people become interested in technology at an early stage of their development. He also organises the UGent/WELEK robot competition and various workshops.

###

UGent researchers to be honored by The Science Communication Steering Group of the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts on 17 October 2013 in the Academy Palace in Brussels