ComSciCon is a national workshop series organized by graduate students, for graduate students, focused on leadership and training in science communication. Our goal is to empower young scientists to become leaders in their field, propagating appreciation and understanding of research results to broad and diverse audiences.
With your support, we can continue to offer transformative leadership and professional development experiences to early career scientists absolutely free of charge to our attendees!
About ComSciCon
ComSciCon operates two primary series of workshops for graduate students:
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A flagship national conference series run annually for future leaders in science communication.
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A series of regional and specialized workshops organized by ComSciCon alumni nationwide.
Since 2012, ComSciCon’s flagship annual workshop series has grown to become the premiere professional development program for graduate-student leaders in science communication, while ComSciCon-local spinoff workshops have provided training in science communication to broader audiences nationwide (with more than 30 held as of 2019). ComSciCon events have directly served about 2000 graduate students in STEM fields to date. These events have brought together graduate-student leaders who have founded student writing collaboratives, accessible science publications, podcasts, video blogs, and other organizations as a direct result of our workshops.
The core components of ComSciCon programs include
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Expert Panels, which allow students to join invited speakers to discuss topics spanning all facets of science communication (such as Inclusivity in Science, Science Education, and Science Media & Journalism).
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Write-a-thon, in which attendees bring a draft of an original piece and meet with invited experts and peers for feedback. Over 80 of these pieces have been published.
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Networking sessions where attendees mingle with speakers and invited guests from leading national institutions over a meal.
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Pop talks, in which attendees practice giving 1-minute oral descriptions of their research to a general audience.
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Poster session where attendees present their own initiatives in science communication in a digital poster session.
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K-12 sessions that facilitate teachers connecting with graduate students to jointly create lessons to be published online
ComSciCon relies on sponsors to ensure that we can provide transformative experiences to graduate students from across the nation with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, at no cost to attendees.
Your Money Goes Towards One Thing: Students
When you donate to ComSciCon, your contribution supports students to attend our events, funding costs including,
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Travel expenses for all graduate student attendees and graduate student organizers including transportation and lodging for all
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Bringing in stellar science communication experts as invited speakers
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Conference venues, materials, & catering costs
Your contributions go to directly support our programming. Because our leadership is entirely volunteer, we maintain no physical office space, and we do not pay for advertising, we have extremely low organizational expenses.
How to Give
You can donate to ComSciCon using the link below. Donations to ComSciCon are managed and received by Community Initiatives. Your donation will be processed by WeDidIt and delivered to Community Initiatives on behalf of and for the express use of ComSciCon.
Community Initiatives is registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and your gift may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes.
