Flipping through the pages of a scientist’s diary
The EU-funded BIOPOLIS project partnered with Portuguese daily national newspaper Público to create ‘The Diary of a Scientist’. A collaboration between scientists and journalists, the online diary sheds light on advanced environmental biology, ecosystem and agrobiodiversity research through the eyes of the people carrying it out. In the first part of 2024, 26 scientists from BIOPOLIS and the University of Porto’s Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO) talked about their research in the first person to Público journalists. This was part of an initiative to introduce a new approach to science communication and resulted in 26 articles, a series of podcasts and daily quizzes being released by the newspaper – both online and in print – throughout the month of August. The ‘Diary of a Scientist’ is illustrated by award-winning Portuguese artist André Carrilho.
It is all about the journey
As explained on the BIOPOLIS website, the diary gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of science. It takes them on a journey through the scientific process, showing them how ideas originated and the paths followed to give them shape. “More than a series of news articles about science, The Diary of a Scientist is a timeless ecosystem of stories about the curiosity, the passion and the people that study the living world around us,” the BIOPOLIS news item states. In short, there is nothing ordinary about the project, as a Público piece written about the project informs. “There are field notes and many emotions. There are wolves and seahorses, vipers and bats, wildcats, cork oaks and more surprising research objects, such as the moss, river DNA or the microbiome of dairy farms.” It all began with the idea that science communication could be approached in a different way. After much brainstorming and discussion, in April 2024 BIOPOLIS and Público launched a competition open to BIOPOLIS and CIBIO researchers and students. Applications had to be based on a PhD thesis, a funded research project or an article published in an indexed scientific journal. The 26 finalists chosen to take part in ‘The Diary of a Scientist’ project were selected out of nearly 100 applications. The project also included a science communication workshop that brought together researchers and journalists from different fields. Over the next few months, the selected scientists worked closely with their editors (all science or environmental journalists), a collaboration that resulted in 18 podcasts and 26 quizzes, in addition to the articles. The BIOPOLIS project’s efforts to enhance excellence in environmental biology, ecosystem and agrobiodiversity research are also evident in studies such as the September 2024 paper published on the creation of a Portuguese coalition for biodiversity genomics. The study highlights Portuguese scientists’ efforts to generate high-quality reference genomes of six species from Portugal that are endemic, iconic and/or endangered. These include plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals from mainland Portugal or the Azores islands. BIOPOLIS (Teaming to Upgrade to Excellence in Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Research and AgroBiodiversity) ends in 2027. For more information, please see: BIOPOLIS project website
Keywords
BIOPOLIS, The Diary of a Scientist, environmental, biology, ecosystem, biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, Público, science communication
