Kudos to swimmer Barbara Gallavotti who was awarded the Premio Capo d’Orlando 2013

Swim wants to congratulate fellow science journalist Barbara Gallavotti – who covers science for Italian State TV in broadcasts  such as “Ulisse”, “Superquark” and “E se domani”, and was Course Director in the first three editions of the Erice International School of Science Journalism) – for being awarded the Premio Capo d’Orlando.

Kudos!

The early bird registration for Helsinki WCSJ2013 ends next Friday

(click on the image to go to the registration page)

The Early Bird registration for the WCSJ 2013 conference is still open – for a few days! Hurry up. Please spread the word!

You can, of course, still register for the conference in June, but it will cost you more.

The last day for the Early Bird registration is Friday, 24^th of May.

Also please spread the word, you are welcome to join the conference even when you are not a working journalist. We are not closing non-journalists out. We need discussion between the journalists and the people they are working and communicating with.

This is because there has been false information about the non-journalists not being able to participate.

The program is being  finalized and printed. You find most of the program in the internet now.

Come and meet your colleagues from all over the world.

Kudos to Swimmer Sergio Pistoi for the Galileo Award

Congratulations to Swimmer Sergio Pistoi who was awarded yesterday the prestigious science popularization Award “Premio Galileo per la divulgazione scientifica” for his recent book “Il DNA incontra Facebook” (“The DNA meets Facebook”).

The programme of the Erice School 2013 on Cognitive Neuroscience is online

Fabiola Gianotti, with her discovery of the Higgs particle at CERN, will be a special guest of this year’s course at the Erice International School of Science Journalism, devoted to Magnetic Resonance and Cognitive Neuroscience.

Other speakers include: Arno Villringer (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science), Barbara Bottalico (Neuroscience and Law Uni Pavia), Beatrice Mautino (Codice/Genoa Science Festival), Connie StLouis (BBC, City University London), Daniela Ovadia (Agency Zoe/Niguarda Hospital), Federico Giove (Centro Fermi), Fred Balvert (Erasmus MC), John Womersley (UK Science and Technology Facilities Council), Marco Cattaneo (Le Scienze/Mente&Cervello), Mo Costandi (Neurophilosophy/The Guardian), Nicla Panciera (CIMEC), Silvia Bencivelli (RAI), Souad Zgaoui (Erasmus MC).

The preliminary programme – designed by Course Directors Umberto Dosselli (INFN-LNF) and Fabio Turone (President of Science Writers in Italy) – is available in the website of the Erice School, along with the instructions to apply to one of the 30 fellowships covering fee, travel and accomodation.

The Erice School of Science Journalism grants 30 fellowships

The Erice International School of Science Journalism grants 30 fellowships for members of EU-countries to attend the 2013 edition (May 25th-May 29th, 2013) on Brain Imaging and Cognitive Neuroscience.

Fellowships are aimed at science journalists, science communicators and students in science journalism and communication.

Fellowships will cover:

- The fee of the School
- Travel expenses to and from Erice
- Staying in Erice

The deadline for applications is March 1, 2013.

Full details about the school and the application process are available in the website of the Erice International School of Science Journalism.

Congratulations to Daniela Cipolloni for the EU Health Prize for Journalists!

Swimmer Daniela Cipolloni was awarded the third prize of the fourth edition of the EU Health Prize for Journalists for her article about the lies spread by private umbilical-cord blood banks published by Oggiscienza.

The article can be found here in the original Italian version (“Tutte le bugie delle banche private del cordone“), or else downloaded in pdf in the English translation available on the website of the EU Health Prize.

Congratulations to our fellow Daniela!

 

Virus Attacks, la pandemia prossima ventura tra scienza e fiction

Lo swimmer Edoardo Rosati, caporedattore del settimanale OGGI, modera a Milano (giovedì 21 febbraio, ore 18, alla libreria Feltrinelli di Piazza Duomo) un incontro tra due scienziati e due scrittori sul tema della minaccia della pandemia prossima ventura, tra le prime iniziative della neonata associazione Peripato, che si prefigge l’obiettivo di ravvivare il rapporto tra medicina e cultura.

Happy 10th Anniversary to the World Federation of Science Journalists

Ten years ago, in Sao José dos Campos, Brazil, the World Federation of Science Journalists was created and Canadian Véronique Morin was elected its first president. Another ten years earlier, the First World Conference of Science Journalists was held in Tokyo, Japan.

In a series of articles written by some key actors, Véronique Morin remembers the discussions in Brazil that led to WFSJ’s birth; Mariko Takahashi, who was also in Sao José dos Campos, shares her souvenirs about the first World Conference; Arthur Bourne, who masterminded the World Conference and the World Federation, tells about the very first steps taken; Wolfgang Goede compares the situation that existed with what still exists; Jim Cornell puts the World Federation in a broader context; while Jean-Marc Fleury collected the souvenirs of several key actors to describe how each World Conference, beginning with Tokyo in 1992, was another step towards the Sao José dos Campos moment.

Read the whole story on the website of the World Federation!

Scienza e politica: le domande ai candidati Premier

Il sito della rivista “Le Scienze” ospita le sei domande rivolte ai candidati Premier (a partire da quelli del Centrosinistra: Bersani, Puppato, Renzi, Tabacci, Vendola) da Dibattito Scienza, un’iniziativa ideata e promossa dagli Swimmer Moreno Colaiacovo e Marco Ferrari.
In un gruppo creato appositamente su Facebook sono state messe a punto con un lavoro collettivo alcune domande con cui si intende introdurre anche nel panorama politico italiano l’abitudine anglosassone di interpellare pubblicamente i candidati su questioni attinenti alla scienza.
L’iniziativa Dibattito Scienza, che viene inaugurata in un momento in cui l’attenzione dell’opinione pubblica è focalizzata sulle primarie del Centrosinistra, è rivolta a tutti i candidati Premier di tutti gli schieramenti.
L’associazione Science Writers in Italy è orgogliosa di figurare tra i promotori di Dibattito Scienza, che ha già raccolto un gran numero di adesioni (e altre ne sta raccogliendo attraverso il sito www.lescienze.it) e si augura che tutti i candidati ne comprendano l’importanza.

Ecco la lista delle domande, di cui via via pubblicheremo le risposte in parallelo con la rivista “Le Scienze” e i molti altri media e blog che si stanno mobilitando per promuovere l’iniziativa:

Le sei domande

1. Quali politiche intende perseguire per il rilancio della ricerca in Italia, sia di base sia applicata, e quali provvedimenti concreti intende promuovere a favore dei ricercatori più giovani?

2. Quali misure adotterà per la messa in sicurezza del territorio nazionale dal punto di vista sismico e idrogeologico?

3. Qual è la sua posizione sul cambiamento climatico e quali politiche energetiche si propone di mettere in campo?

4. Quali politiche intende adottare in materia di fecondazione assistita e testamento biologico? In particolare, qual è la sua posizione sulla legge 40?

5.Quali politiche intende adottare per la sperimentazione pubblica in pieno campo di OGM e per l’etichettatura anche di latte, carni e formaggi derivati da animali nutriti con mangimi OGM?

6. Qual è la sua posizione in merito alle medicine alternative, in particolare per quel che riguarda il rimborso di queste terapie da parte del SSN?

Gli hashtag per seguire l’iniziativa su Twitter sono #dibattitoscienza #primarieCSX.

The Autumn issue of EUSJA News is out

View this document on Scribd

(You can also download the pdf from the EUSJA website)