ComSciCon-Flagship 2019

• The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind
• UC San Diego
• UC San DIego Physical Sciences
• UC San Diego Graduate Division
• UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
• UC San DIego Neurosciences Graduate Program
• UC San Diego SOC SCI
• Qualcomm Institute
• MIT Office of Graduate Education
• American Astronomical Society
• American Chemical Society
• Cognitive Science Society
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• ScienceCareers from AAAS
• Committee for the Advancement of Science Writing

Apply to ComSciCon 2019

This years workshop is hosted at the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego July 11th – July 13th, 2019. 

Eligibility

Attendance at ComSciCon is limited to current (or recently graduated) graduate students in residence at US or Canadian institutions. International students who study at US and Canadian institutions are gladly welcomed. We unfortunately cannot accept students traveling to this event from outside the US or Canada. Recent graduates must have graduated no earlier than December 2018.

The application closes Friday, March 1st 2019.

Application closed

Pre-Workshop Requirements

ComSciCon’s National Workshop is a highly interactive and cooperative event. For instance, several of the sessions include group workshopping of already-developed science communication pieces. A preliminary schedule for the 2019 workshop can be found here.

All accepted attendees to ComSciCon 2019 are expected to complete the following in advance of attending the workshop. This list shows examples from the previous year, as the final list for 2019 has not yet been finalized. Check back soon for additional details of each requirement. 

Write-A-Thon

Through the “Write-A-Thon”, ComSciCon attendees develop science communication pieces (articles, videos, etc) and workshop them extensively with fellow attendees and science communication experts. Many of these pieces are later published in major science communication outlets.

Details / Submission: More details will be available as the conference approaches.

Poster (Optional)

Details: 

On July 13th, ComSciCon will feature a poster session highlighting the science outreach, communication, and social media activities of our attendees and several local SciComm organizations. This poster session will utilize ePosterboards, so you won’t need to print or transport a physical poster.

We are unfortunately not able to offer posters to all attendees, so we ask interested attendees to submit abstracts. You can see examples of successful abstracts from a previous year’s program. Selected attendees will be invited to prepare an electronic poster before the workshop. We’ll let you know the status of your submission within a few days, so you have plenty of time to work on the poster.

Timeline:

• Early June: Short abstract due
• Late June: Submit final  poster (selected attendees)
• Saturday July 13th: E-Posterboard Session

Evaluation Surveys

ComSciCon is interested in learning more about how best to improve science communication training. We evaluate our performance through surveys before, immediately following, and 6-months after the workshop. 

Details: The pre-workshop survey will be available upon acceptance to ComSciCon 2019.

Timeline:

• 2 weeks prior to conference: Complete pre-workshop survey
• Late July: Complete post-workshop survey
• Late 2019: Complete follow-up survey

Deposit and Paperwork

Attendees are required to submit a deposit ($50 check), which will be refunded (not deposited) following the workshop. We also require some basic paperwork (W9s, or equivalent for international attendees) to be submitted prior to the workshop to allow for reimbursement of travel expenses. 

More information on the reimbursement paperwork will be available upon acceptance to ComSciCon 2019.

Workshop Program and Logistical Information

ComSciCon 2019 will be hosted at the Qualcomm Institute at University of California, San Diego. Information on the Qualcomm Institute can be found at qi.ucsd.edu.

We’re excited to announce the schedule for this year’s ComSciCon 2019 National Workshop! 

PDF program

Schedule

Unless noted, all events take place in Theatre, the main event hall.

Wednesday, July 10

Attendees arrive to San Diego and check into dorms

Thursday, July 11

8:30 AM – Breakfast

9:00 AM – Welcome to ComSciCon!

9:20 AM – Panel 1: Storytelling

    Steven Snyder, Nathan Dappen, Sarita Menon, Maris Wicks

10:50 AM – Coffee Break

11:00 AM – EPoster Session/Icebreaker

12:30 PM – Lunch

1:20 PM – Panel 2: Diversity & Inclusion

    Monica Feliu-Mojer, Jesse Shanahan, Ashanti Davis, Shaun Travers

2:50 PM – Coffee Break

3:10 PM – Business-side/Transferable Skills of SciComm Workshop

4:00 PM – Expert Review / Write-A-Thon + Pitch-Slam

6:00 PM – Careers Dinner

7:15 PM – Tangled Bank Screening

8:45 PM – Return to Dorms

Friday, July 12

8:30 AM – Breakfast

9:00 AM – Panel 3: Mental Health

    Summer Ash, Susanna Harris, Niyatee Sukumaran, Lauren Langbein

10:30 AM – Coffee Break

10:45 AM – Empathy & Controversial Topics Workshop

12:30 PM – Lunch

1:15 PM – Keynote Presentation (Soren Wheeler)

2:30 PM – Science Riot Workshop

5:30 PM- Second Half of Transferable Skills of SciComm Workshop

6:00 PM – Group Photo

6:30 PM – Banquet Dinner

Saturday, July 13

8:30 AM – Breakfast

9:00 AM – ComSciCon Informational Session

10:30 AM – Panel 4: Science Journalism

    Elah Feder, Erik Anderson, Jennifer Ouellette

12:30 PM – Lunch

1:00 PM – Outreach as a Prof Workshop

Bite Scis and Taste of Sci

4:00 PM – Closing Remarks

Harassment Policy

ComSciCon is dedicated to providing a safe, hospitable, and productive environment for everyone present, regardless of ethnicity, religion, ability, physical appearance, or gender. It’s important to remember that a conference where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Accordingly, ComSciCon prohibits intimidating, threatening, or harassing conduct during our conference. This policy applies to speakers, organizers, expert reviewers, and attendees.

Harassment of participants will not be tolerated in any form. Harassment includes:

• Offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, etc.
• Sexual images in public spaces
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• Harassing photography or recording
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, ComSciCon organizers will take any action they deem appropriate, ranging from a verbal warning to expulsion from the conference.

ComSciCon organizers may take action to address any actions or behavior disrupting the conference or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference events and ComSciCon-related social activities.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the conference staff immediately (in person, recognizable by our ComSciCon t-shirts, or by email).

We value your attendance, and want to make the conference experience as educational, productive, and fun as possible.