PCST Life Members elected

The Scientific Committee has unanimously elected 12 individuals in recognition of their contribution to the PCST network.  The 12 were the lead organisers of PCST conferences or individuals who rendered exceptional service to the network.

• Massimiano Bucchi (Italy)
• Paolo Catapano (Switzerland)
• Pierre Fayard (France)
• Toss Gascoigne (Australia)
• Winfried Goepfert (Germany)
• Marina Joubert (South Africa)
• Hak-Soo Kim (Korea)
• Luisa Massarani (Brazil)
• Manoj Patairiya (India)
• Jan Riise (Sweden)
• Vladimir de Semir (Spain)
• Bernard Schiele (Canada)

They played a leading role in establishing the network as principal organisers of the PCST conferences over the past 25 years.  The PCST Scientific Committee awarded life membership to these individuals “in recognition of your outstanding contribution to our community, in particular your role in the organisation of a PCST conference”.

Life membership may be awarded to others in the future for similar outstanding contributions

Among the messages accepting life membership were these:

Marina Joubert: “The PCST Network has been instrumental in building my career and expanding my interest in science communication research and practice. The ongoing online networking provides a sustained source of new ideas and generous intellectual support, while the biennial conferences deliver a concentrated dose of new insights, contacts and collaborations”.

Bernard Schiele: “Ces années de travail avec le réseau PCST m’ont permis de nouer des liens professionnels profonds et durables avec des collègues pour lesquels j’ai une profonde estime. Grâces à eux, et je les en remercie, il m’a été possible d’entreprendre des projets et de relever des défis que je n’aurai même pas pu imaginer. Je me plais à répéter que tout je que j’ai fait, je le dois en grande partie aux collaborations que le réseau PCST m’a permis de développer dans le monde entier”.

[Translation: “These years of work with the PCST network have allowed me to make deep and lasting professional connections with colleagues for whom I have deep esteem. Thanks to them – and I do thank for this – it has been possible for me to undertake projects and take on challenges which I could not have imagined. I am happy to repeat that everything I have done I owe in large part to the collaborations which the PCST network has enabled me to develop across the whole world.”]

Hak-Soo Kim: “Public communication of science and technology is a big challenge, not just about how to transmit scientific knowledge to the public, but about how to solve all kinds of problems, individual and collective. I believe and hope that PCST will be an intellectual community for human realization of, in, and through problem-solving”.

Pierre Fayard: “La vie ‘planétaire et multiculturelle’ de ce réseau a constitué pour moi une expérience très enrichissante et très diverse. Toujours plaisir à m’en rappeler les principaux épisodes, les rencontres et les échanges avec chacun de vous”.

[Translation: “The ‘planetary’ and multicultural life of this network has provided me with a very enriching and very diverse experience. It is always a pleasure to recall the main episodes, the meetings and the exchanges with each one of you.”]

Massimiano Bucchi: “Attending PCST conferences has always been a great opportunity to meet participants with different backgrounds from all over the world and learn from their work. In my view, few conferences offer such a stimulating combination of research and practice. Organising PCST 2012 in Italy was for me one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences, both from a professsional and personal point of view.”

Luisa Massarani: “Participo dos eventos da rede PCST desde 1998, quando eu ainda era uma jovem jornalista de ciência, que estava cursando o mestrado no Brasil. Ao longo desses anos, a rede foi fundamental para a minha vida profissional. Em 2014, sediamos uma conferência PCST, em Salvador. Foi a primeira vez que esta conferência veio para a América Latina. Participar de evento da rede é algo que definitivamente eu recomendo para quem deseja atuar na área, seja academicamente seja no campo prático!”

[Translation: “I have been taking part in PCST events since 1998 when I was still a young science journalist following a Masters in Brazil. Through these years the network was fundamental for my professional life. In 2014 we ran a PCST conference in Salvador. This was the first time that the conference came to Latin America. Taking part in network events is something I definitely recommend to anyone who wants to be active in this field, whether academically or practically.”]

Jan Riise: “A global network, PCST is the forum for the development and exchange of science communication research and practice. At the same time, PCSTs significance on the local and regional scales should be recognized; the biennial conferences offer excellent opportunities for national and regional scientists and communicators to engage, participate and be inspired in a truly international community. PCST 2008 in the Øresund region of southern Sweden and Denmark as well as earlier and following meetings have clearly reflected this.”

Manoj Patariya: “The photo is a the authentic Laddakhi art and I am sure all of you would feel like visiting Laddakh, India at least once in your life time! The forum PCST is a great platform for growth and development of this cross-disciplinary area of science communication and I am happy to be part of the journey that the group has performed over the period. It is more satisfying that the majority of the constituents of this network are still together in one way or the other which is the core strength and success. It also showed the way that how collectively we have been able to benefit and enrich the science communication field in the world and it’ll go a long way! Hope to see you all in Istanbul next year and please do not forget: here is a standing offer from my side to have yet another PCST Conference or Symposium in India.