Science Communication at University: Research That Talks to Society

Universities produce thousands of scientific studies every year. Most of them circulate within the academic community, between researchers and specialists. Yet public interest in science is real and substantial. At the 2025 edition of BergamoScienza, one of Italy’s leading science festivals, nearly 90,000 people attended events in person and over 325,000 followed them online. An audience that actively chooses to engage with scientific topics.

Understanding how a vaccine works, evaluating the reliability of medical information, or grasping the implications of artificial intelligence for health all require accessible tools for reading the world. Science communication addresses exactly this: not just conveying content, but adapting it to different audiences, choosing the most effective formats, and building a productive dialogue between research and society.

University Public Engagement: What It Actually Means

University public engagement refers to the full range of activities through which universities make research accessible and connect it with society: public events, festivals, school programmes, collaborations with associations, and science outreach initiatives. In the Italian university system, it falls under the so-called “terza missione” (third mission), the formal mandate for public engagement and knowledge transfer, which is subject to national evaluation.

According to APEnet, the Italian network of universities and research institutions committed to public engagement, the goal goes beyond communicating research. It means creating genuine opportunities for exchange between academia and society, where listening and the active participation of different audiences play a central role.

«There is no single public» says Eufemia Puortì, UniSR’s Public Engagement Officer. «The term “general public” or “lay people” gets used a lot, but in reality, audiences are plural, each with their own questions, needs, doubts and fears — especially when biomedical topics are involved».

Listening, Not Convincing

There is a persistent misunderstanding about science communication: that its goal is to convince people. The experience of those who work in the field points in a different direction, one where the quality of the interaction matters more than persuasion.

«Good communication is not measured by whether everyone has been convinced» Putortì explains. «It is measured by the quality of the listening and by mutual respect, even when opinions remain different. At the end of an interaction, I think that’s what stays».

This approach has concrete consequences for how activities are designed, formats are chosen, and researchers are trained: effectiveness is not measured in terms of “conversion”, but in the quality of the space for understanding and dialogue that each initiative manages to create.

Beyond Lectures: Encounters That Bring Science to Life

MEETme@School, a project funded by the European Commission, brought UniSR researchers into secondary schools in Milan to share their citizen science projects. The project ran across the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years and involved 2,178 students from both lower and upper secondary schools. During the sessions, students attended research presentations, practised cardiopulmonary resuscitation on mannequins, and collected data that fed directly into ongoing research.

Citizen science projects bring young people closer to research by making it tangible, giving students a concrete sense that STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) are within everyone’s reach.

A second format reverses the direction entirely. At the UniSR Science Fair, held each year during the Open Day in May, it is the public that steps into the laboratories. Researchers, alumni and staff present their work on topics ranging from bioprinting for tumour modelling to advanced genomic sequencing and cardiac resuscitation, talking directly with whoever stops to ask. Not a lecture, but a conversation between those who do the research and those who want to understand it.

Science Festivals: Where Language Gets Tested

At science festivals, the audience is rarely made up of specialists. Families, students, curious visitors who arrive by chance or out of personal interest: for researchers, this means facing unexpected questions and rethinking how they talk about their work.

UniSR takes part in several Italian science festivals, including BergamoScienza, the Genoa Science Festival, Pint of Science and the Foligno Festival of Science and Philosophy, with workshops, talks and interactive activities. Each event becomes an exercise in communication: making complex concepts clear, choosing words with care, and leaving room for the audience’s questions.

Pathways: A Board Game as a Communication Tool

Communicating the complexity of research, in biomedicine and beyond, calls for tools that go further than traditional classroom formats. Studies on science festivals show that their main value lies not so much in the transfer of knowledge as in their capacity to activate curiosity and engagement in a shared social context.

The same logic informs the literature on serious games, games designed with explicit educational purposes, now widely used in fields ranging from medical training to public health communication.

Pathways fits into this framework. Developed by Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in collaboration with Tambù, it is a board game for secondary school students that uses play-based dynamics to introduce them to university pathways and expert professions. The experience combines knowledge, decision-making and collaboration, placing participants in front of choices and scenarios that require discussion and shared reasoning.

APEnet: The Italian Network for Public Engagement

University science communication in Italy is no longer a set of isolated initiatives. Since 2018, APEnet, the Network of Italian Universities and Research Institutions for Public Engagement, has been active nationally; it became a formal association in April 2022. It now brings together dozens of institutions, including Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, which was among its founding members.

The network supports the exchange of experiences between universities and research centres, promotes the sharing of good practices, and works to develop common criteria for evaluating public engagement activities and their impact, in dialogue with the Ministry of University and Research. Over time, APEnet has helped shift public engagement from individual projects to coordinated national efforts.

The UniSR Master’s in Science and Health Communication

Working in science communication requires theoretical and practical skills that take time to develop, such as writing, public speaking, the ability to design outreach activities, audience management, and a solid understanding of how scientific research works.

The UniSR First-Level Master’s in Science and Health Communication trains professionals from diverse backgrounds each year: journalism, philosophy, sociology, communication. Healthcare professionals are joining increasingly often, looking to develop the skills needed to communicate research clearly, rigorously and effectively outside clinical settings.

The programme includes a placement period with organisations, institutions and bodies active in science communication and outreach at national and international level. Past editions have involved, among others, the editorial team of Corriere Salute, the National Museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo da Vinci” Foundation, the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, Rizzoli Education, Zanichelli Editore, Pagella Politica, the BergamoScienza Festival, and several offices of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between science communication, public engagement and citizen science?

Science communication, public engagement and citizen science all aim to bring research closer to society, but they are not the same thing. Science communication focuses mainly on making research topics and findings accessible to non-specialist audiences. Public engagement goes further, placing active involvement at the centre: not just the transmission of content, but listening, dialogue and reciprocal participation between universities, researchers and society. Citizen science is a research methodology in which non-professional citizens voluntarily participate in different phases of the scientific process, contributing not only to data collection but also to its processing, analysis and interpretation. In the Italian university system, both public engagement and citizen science fall under the “terza missione” (third mission).

What does a university public engagement office do?

A public engagement office designs and coordinates the activities through which a university builds dialogue with society, its local community and diverse audiences. This can include organising festivals, public events, exhibitions and outreach initiatives open to citizens; collaborating with schools, associations and cultural institutions; producing in-depth content; and training researchers in public science communication. In some cases, it also promotes forms of active citizen participation in research and contributes to the collection and reporting of third-mission activities required by the university system.

How can a school take part in UniSR citizen science activities?

Information on how to participate is published on the UniSR website at the beginning of each academic year.

What is APEnet?

APEnet is the Association “Italian Network of Universities and Research Institutions for Public Engagement”. Established as an informal network in 2018 and constituted as a formal association in 2022, it brings together Italian universities and research institutions committed to promoting public engagement as an integral part of the academic mission. APEnet supports the exchange of experiences and good practices, promotes training and reflection on public engagement, and contributes to national discussions on evaluation, impact and the institutionalisation of the field. UniSR is among the founding members of the association.

How is the impact of a public engagement initiative evaluated?

Impact evaluation is one of the most complex challenges in public engagement, because many of the outcomes of these activities, such as interaction quality, participant engagement and the creation of lasting relationships between research and society, require structured audience involvement from the design phase and non-standardised indicators.

Evaluation therefore typically combines quantitative data (participation numbers, reach, continuity of activities) with qualitative elements that vary depending on the objectives of the initiative and the audience involved. Nationally, the field is still evolving: universities, research institutions and national and international networks are working to develop shared methodologies, criteria and more robust, comparable evaluation tools.

What are the main science festivals in Italy?

Italy has numerous science festivals and events, spread across the country and with very different formats. Among the best known: BergamoScienza, the Genoa Science Festival, BookCity, Pint of Science (with events in many Italian cities), Trieste Next, FOSFORO, the Foligno Festival of Science and Philosophy, and the Festival della Mente in Sarzana.

It is a broad and evolving landscape in which universities and research institutions take part with contributions ranging from talks to interactive workshops aimed at different audiences. UniSR is present each year at several of these events, with initiatives organised by its researchers and the Public Engagement team.

How does one become a science communicator?