PRR Project

Summary

The presently proposed hiring of a new researcher in the area of Communication & Outreach it is of key strategic importance for the Associate Laboratory Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL).IDL’s core endeavour is to carry out excellent research in Earth Science, and to fully explore its impact on achieving viable solutions to some of human society’s near future most dire challenges, namely: climate change, natural hazards, and the demand for a progressive change of paradigm on energy dependency, from fossil to renewable sources.Therefore, IDL recognizes the ever growing strategic value of science communication as a means of materializing new scientific advances in terms of their societal impact. This requisite is seen as particularly important in the field of Earth and Environmental Science, from which will arise some of the most complex and challenging problems to human societies in the next decades.Therefore, high quality and high impact advanced science communication and outreach in Earth Sciences, comprising state of the art methodologies and platforms, networks and social media, to convey complex scientific ideas to general non-academic audiences of all generations, clearly constitutes one of IDL’s main priorities.IDL is already called regularly by the media to comment on issues that are intensely debated in society due to its implications on everyday life, namely Climate Change, its impacts and mitigation strategies; Natural Hazards, what to expect and how to respond; the Energy Transition and how to reduce fossil fuel dependence. These major challenges call for an increase on citizen’s awareness and preparedness that must be scientifically sound. At a time when misinformation starts to become an issue, it is critical that scientific institutions step up and fulfil their role in providing reliable and well-informed knowledge to society.In addition to public communication and outreach, the proposed Researcher will also dedicate to promoting pre-university school projects and activities. IDL already supports several pre-university activities, such as the Energy Summer School, Seismology at Schools, Rocha Amiga, in addition to receiving and visiting schools regularly, and acting as consultants to modern science centres (Centro Ciência Viva do Lousal, Quake Lisbon Centre) (https://idl.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/science-society). Investing in the education of the next generation is a core part of IDL’s mission.To comply with the demands above, IDL aims at attracting an Earth-Science researcher with enthusiastic vocation, and appropriate specific advanced training, in the field of Science Communication & Outreach, capable of not only understating the substance of the science at stake, but also of making simple synthesis of the fundamental underlying concepts in each case, pushing to maximize the potential societal impact of scientific advances, namely (but not exclusively) focusing on IDL’s research priorities: climate change, natural hazards and energy transition.The successful candidate is thus expected to combine a competitive level of research aptitude in Earth-Sciences with high proficiency and advance training capabilities in communication & outreach across the broad spectrum of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He/she is likewise expected to closely articulate with different research teams and respective PIs, leading national and international projects, as well as being able to apply for national and European funding (science education, training and communication projects or work packages), and to publish in high-quality specialized journals.Competitive candidates capable of achieving short term leadership in new interface areas, of financing their own activity and of conceiving/materializing a modern communications & outreach concept adapted to IDL’s specific necessities of improvement in this area, are considered of key strategic importance for the Institute’s research strategy.