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The UCL MSc Science Communication has a strong global focus, preparing students for science communication jobs around the world: From journalism & digital media, to PR & public engagement.
| Programme Details | |
|---|---|
| Awards Available | MSc |
| Duration | 1 year Full Time 2 years Part Time |
| Location | UCL Bloomsbury Campus |
Our UCL MSc Science Communication focuses on state-of-the-art professional communications, journalism and engagement expertise from around the world, combined with an academic underpinning from science and technology studies (STS). We help students develop professional-level communication skills that are thoughtful, creative and change how people think about science in the digital, connected and global world.
Find out what students think about our MSc Science Communication:
The UCL MSc Science Communication Programme is delivered by one of the largest groups of science communication teachers and researchers in the world, working alongside science communication professionals who lead their fields.
Find out more about our team.
The UCL MSc Science Communication has three distinctive features that makes us stand out from the rest:
1. We offer practical science communication training delivered by world-leading and award-winning science communication professionals who are closely connected to the world of work;
2. An academic backbone informed by Science and Technology Studies;
3. A global perspective on Science Communication that recognises how information and knowledge travels in the 21s Century
Find out more about the programme the modules on offer and how to apply.
Course Content
The curriculum comprises a core of three compulsory theoretical modules and three compulsory practical modules, plus a final independent project. Students are also able to choose one additional specialist module, as well as one level 7 (master's level) module from the wider Department of Science and Technology Studies module catalogue.
Core Theoretical Modules:
- Forms of Science Communication: Global Perspectives
- Public Engagement for Social Justice
- Science Communication and Engagement in Practice
Core Practical Modules:
- Practical Science Writing
- Practical Science Broadcasting
- Digital Media Skills for Science Communication
Final Project
Specialism Modules:
Please note that specialist modules may vary each academic year without prior notice
The UCL Science Communication Team
Academic Staff
The programme Director is Professor Melanie Smallman and Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon. Both have academic and practical experience in science communication.
- Professor Melanie Smallman - Programme Lead
- Melanie Smallman is Professor of Science and Technology Studies and has more than 20 years’ professional experience in science communication, having worked for organisations including London’s Science Museum, the Wellcome Trust and The Royal Society. Most notably, she was founder and Director of Think-Lab, the first communications consultancy to focus on supporting science and technology, and spent seven years as a communications adviser for the Chief Scientific Adviser in the UK Government Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra). At UCL, Melanie’s research looks at the role of technology in driving inequality, how the social effects of technologies affect public attitudes and how these views can be taken into account of in public policy. Melanie co-founded UCL’s Responsible Research and Innovation Hub and is currently a member of the scientific committee of the international PCST (public communication in science and technology) network, of the Harvard-based McQuillan Institute for Science, Technology and the Human Future and is Chair of the Jury for the global Falling Walls Engage competition.
Full Profile: www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/people/dr-melanie-smallman
Other academic staff associated with the science communication programme
- Professor Simon Lock
- Professor Lock's research interests focuses on the science communication, public engagement with research, the governance of science, sociology of new technology and science in public.
Full Profile: ucl.ac.uk/sts/people/dr-simon-lock
- Professor Emily Dawson
Professor Dawson's work focuses on how people encounter and engage with science, with an emphasis on equity and social justice. My research and teaching explore how science engagement practices, from school classrooms, to museums, to watching TV at home, set certain kinds of people up to be successful when they encounter science, while others are set up to fail.
- Dr Stephen Hughes
- Dr Hughes is delivering a Responsible Innovation programme to EPSRC CDT doctoral students across UCL. He is interested in exploring the intersection of emotion and responsibility in research cultures.
Full Profile: iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile
- Dr Charlotte Sleigh
- Dr Sleigh is a researcher, writer and practitioner across the science humanities. Her research interests began in the history of biology, and have continued as such with an emphasis on animals.
Full Profile: iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile
- Professor Joe Cain
- Professor Joe Cain delivers our module on Science and the Publishing Industry. He’s a historian and philosopher of biology by training, and he has held positions in academic publishing and trade publishing. Joe also teaching podcasting, and he hosts our podcast, WeAreSTS.
Full profile: ucl.ac.uk/sts/cain
You can hear our team talking about their work here.
Practical skills staff
Our practical modules are delivered by science communication professionals, who will help students hone their skills in producing science communication products, ready for the workplace.
- Helen Pearson - Chief Magazine Editor for Nature
Helen is a science journalist and is Chief Magazine Editor for Nature, the world’s leading science journal, where she oversees journalism and opinion content.
Full Profile: helenpearson.info/
- Richard Fisher - Senior Commissioning Editor at BBC Future
- Richard is a writer, senior commissioning editor at BBC Future and experienced digital team leader, specialising in science, technology and health journalism.
Full Profile: richardfisher.carrd.co
- Noah Baker - Chief Multimedia Editor at Nature
- Noah Baker is an award-winning multimedia journalist, Chief Multimedia Editor at Nature, producing content for Nature Video and for the Nature Podcast.
Got any questions before submitting an application for our new MSc Science Communication? Our FAQs are here to help.
Summer Reading Sample to Prepare for Study
If you'd like a taste of the type of material students will encounter in the Science Communication MSc, here is a sampler. Together, these present some of the key themes that will help you engage during the course. Please don't consider this list canonical or unproblemmatic. By the end of the course, you'll be able to position all this material in meaningful contexts.
Bauer, Martin W. “The evolution of public understanding of science—discourse and comparative evidence.” Science, technology and society 14.2 (2009): 221-240.
Bucchi, Massimiano, and Brian Trench, eds. Routledge handbook of public communication of science and technology. Routledge, 2021.
Bucchi, Massimiano. Science and the media: Alternative routes to scientific communications. Routledge, 2012.
Davies, Sarah R., and Maja Horst. Science communication: Culture, identity and citizenship. Springer, 2016.
Gouyon, Jean-Baptiste. “1985, Scientists can’t do science alone, they need publics.” Public Understanding of Science 25.6 (2016): 754-757.
Gouyon, Jean-Baptiste; Sleigh, Charlotte; Turbil, Cristiano; Kohlt, Franziska; Nielsen, Kristian; ‘Science Communication and Scientism: Historical Perspectives’. In: Bauer, Martin W and Schiele, Bernard, (eds.) Science Communication: Taking a Step Back to Move Forward. CNRS (2023): 385-396
Irwin, Alan. “Citizen science and scientific citizenship: Same words, different meanings.” Science communication today 2015 (2015): 29-38.
Nielsen, Kristian H. “Scientific communication and the nature of science.” Science and Education 22 (2013): 2067-2086.