Hi everyone, Thank you to everyone who has already filled in our survey on science engagement! For those of you who haven't yet, we'd like to remind you of the survey and ask that you take it.
Our survey is aims to understand how engagement is assessed in our jobs and how we perceive it. We also seek to assess how these perceptions about engagement, measurement, and importance, differ between researchers and their managers/heads of department, etc. This email is a three-fold request. 1. (10-15 minutes) Please take our (confidential) survey: http://chanslab.ires.ubc.ca/research/scientists-and-engagementoutreach/ 2. (3-5 minutes) Consider sending the linked contact-letter *(see below and attached) to your manager/head of department or dean, with a note that you consider this to be important and would suggest that s/he promote the survey within your unit. We have indications that some departments and schools will see such a survey as central to their mandates, and we are offering tailored summary reports for participating departments. 3. (3-5 minutes) Send an email to disseminate the survey within your networks. You might use the template below, adding personalized comments (and possibly replacing words like ‘scientist’ or ‘researcher’). The survey gives people the opportunity to express strongly held opinions and values that are often at the heart of their decision to be in science/academia: --- Template email for dissemination --- I’d like to recommend that you take a 10-15 minute survey that gets to the heart of what it means to be a scientist/researcher. Whereas research outputs and impacts are receiving a great deal of attention, relatively little attention has been paid to the measurement of excellence in science engagement/outreach (which some argue is key to making science relevant and contribute to ‘a better world’). A working group at the Global Young Academy is a launching a novel effort to understand how engagement is assessed in our jobs and how we perceive it. It also seeks to assess how these perceptions about engagement, measurement, and importance, differ between researchers and their managers/heads of department, etc. Url for university, government, NGO and industry staff with a PhD: http://fluidsurveys.com/s/scientists_engagement/ Url for students and postdocs: http://fluidsurveys.com/s/student_scientists_engagement/ Please also pass this on to interested parties. --- End template email for dissemination ---/media/assets/user/6045707 * P.S. (re: contact letter): We have attached four versions, each for a different audience. Please use the one that is most appropriate. E.g. • For 'science' department-heads or deans at universities, use the file at https://www.dropbox.com/s/4alwitq1f2tixty/WG%20MESE%20GYA%20letterhead%20-%20scientist%2Cuni.pdf?dl=0 • For other department-heads or deans at universities, broader than ’science’, use the file at https://www.dropbox.com/s/o54494dq9x6atdl/WG%20MESE%20GYA%20letterhead%20-%20scholar%2Cuni.pdf?dl=0 • For non-university organizations (such as government agencies), use the file at https://www.dropbox.com/s/sclqekyjo8ocli6/WG%20MESE%20GYA%20letterhead%20-%20manager.pdf?dl=0 • For professional organizations and societies, use the file at https://www.dropbox.com/s/hift6btylihwfji/WG%20MESE%20GYA%20letterhead%20-%20professional%20association.pdf?dl=0 Please also feel free to translate these letters to other languages! Kai M. A. Chan, Assoc Prof & Tier 2 Canada Research Chair (Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services) MESE Working Group Co-chair CHANS Lab (Connecting Human and Natural Systems) Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability AERL Rm 438, 2202 Main Mall University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Gerald Gurinder Singh Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability The University of British Columbia Aquatic Ecosystem Research Laboratory 429-2202 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z4 cell: 778-389-4864
