About the project

Supported by the "Social Responsibility of Science" programme of the Ministry of Education and Science

Science Club is the idea of creating a platform to connect the activities of scientists and the socio-economic environment in the context of the social responsibility of universities. The project is interdisciplinary by combining experimental and social sciences. It is implemented by the Faculty of Chemistry and the Faculty of Economics within the framework of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education programme - Social Responsibility of Science.

The aim of the project is to:

• to strengthen the science-society dialogue by providing factual information to the public, based on knowledge and scientific evidence, but presented in an accessible form and in understandable language;
• popularisation of science through the organisation of cyclical activities in the form of lectures, demonstrations and workshops organised at the University of Gdansk;
• shaping a positive public perception of science, where science reaches out to its indirect addressees, becomes open and accessible to them.

Science plays a very important role in socio-economic life - it helps to determine the directions of societies, shapes economic policy strategies, and identifies opportunities and threats to the functioning of humans in their ecosystem. At the same time, it often goes unnoticed in everyday life until it appears in the media in an exaggerated or distorted form.

Stereotyping mainly concerns experimental science, which is reduced to catchy slogans such as GMO, in-vitro, preservatives in cosmetic products or cosmetics with UV filters, but also economic science, where the point of reference for the phenomena presented is the pursuit of GDP growth, while economists clearly point to the post-PKB era shaped, so-called green economy or sustainable development are treated only as alternatives. At the same time, a large part of the population fails to recognise the omnipresent risks of everyday life, such as the credit trap, the dangers of cyberbanking, the effects of climate change, the impact of advertising on food and cosmetic choices or artificial intelligence.  The alarming data on the decline in vaccination rates or the growing 'speculative bubbles' are a very important signal that shaping the right public perception of science should be one of the goals of academic units.  Showing the right role models and educating the public should include children, adolescents, but also adults with formed views.

One of the aims of the project is to promote discussion of 'difficult' questions in order to identify challenges, which is the basis for research, innovation, testing new technologies. The use of questions as part of integrated learning, in inquiry-based teaching, is important to stimulate the creativity of pupils and students, but also of society more broadly.

Activities foreseen under the project:

1. Open meetings in the form of science cafés.
2. Competition for the best presentation aimed at schoolchildren.
3. Oxford debates aimed at secondary school students.
4. Congress of Economic and Environmental Student Societies (KEEKS).
5. Urban game.
6. Sustainability Day at UG.
7. Organisation of conferences for young scientists.

The project will run from 2020 to 2022 and has a budget of more than PLN 330,000.

We invite you to join our Science Club and wish you a successful science adventure!