Tag Archives: Society of Biology

Become a press and communications officer for the UK’s Society of Biology

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The application deadline for the job is Monday, June 23, 2014 5 pm (London, UK time). Should you be living on the West Coast of Canada or the US (not sure about Mexico as that country curves east the further south you travel) move the time back 8 hours for a 9 am deadline.

Here’s more about the job (h/t Rebecca N) from the Press & Communications Officer posting on the Society of Biology’s Job Board,

Job title: Press & Communications Officer

Reports to: Director of Membership, Marketing & Communications

Overall purpose: To ensure, through proactive media & PR activity, that the Society has the profile and level of publicity to support the organisation’s vision and brand. To co-ordinate Biology Week and use it as a way to raise the profile of the Society of Biology and of the biosciences.

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time

Salary: £25,000 to £29,000 (depending on experience)

Key responsibilities:

1.    Develop and lead a proactive and effective media strategy; build relationships with journalists, and act as the main point of contact for journalist enquiries; write press releases and news articles for the website; produce background briefings and prepare spokespeople for interviews, co-ordinating media interviews and requests; arrange media interviews and develop a public profile for key staff; monitor current issues and public opinion to inform the media strategy; work with Member Organisations and the Science Media Centre; ensure that all media communications comply with the Society’s brand identity and guidelines

2.    Develop a PR strategy; identify and exploit PR opportunities to maximise the Society’s policy work, to promote the Society as the unifying voice of biology, to promote the benefits of membership, and to promote key events; evaluate all PR activity

3.    Work with the Society’s branches and special interest groups to support and/or deliver regional/specialist press work

4.    Monitor the Society’s press and broadcast coverage, feeding this information back to staff and volunteers

5.    Assist in managing the media in a potential crisis situation, including availability outside normal office hours: ensure any negative coverage is swiftly and effectively responded to, including production of position statements prior to any media interest

6.    Maintain the media database with key contacts

7.    Co-ordinate Biology Week, including liaising with teachers and increasing the number of external events, and managing an intern

8.    Organise Biology Week events, including a reception in the House of Commons, and use the events to raise the Society’s profile

9.    Manage the Society’s social media outlets, including a blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and increase its online following

10.    Work with team to produce photographs, videos and podcasts

11.    Co-ordinate citizen science projects, including the flying ant survey

12.    Carrying out such other duties as may be required, including occasional UK travel and stays overnight

This looks like it could be fun, ‘co-ordinate a citizen science flying ant survey’. And, seeing one of the other duties involves organizing a reception at the House of Commons, the requirement “Able to get on with people at all levels” seems more important than it might ordinarily. Although how one would evaluate the quality mystifies me. The rest of the requirements and more application details are available here.

Here’s more about the Society of Biology from its About us page (Note: Links have been removed),

The Society of Biology is a single unified voice for biology: advising Government and influencing policy; advancing education and professional development; supporting our members, and engaging and encouraging public interest in the life sciences. The Society represents a diverse membership of individuals, learned societies and other organisations.

Individual members include practising scientists, students at all levels, professionals in academia, industry and education, and non-professionals with an interest in biology.
Our vision is of a world that understands the true value of biology and how it can contribute to improving life for all.

Our mission is to be the unifying voice for biology, to facilitate the promotion of new discoveries in biological science for national and international benefit, and to engage the wider public with our work.

Good luck!

Tips for scientists on talking to the media

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In late July 2012, I chatted with a professor of chemistry from a local university who was commenting on trying to generate some media interest in a recent study of hers. Her contacts at the university public affairs/media relations/etc.  office suggested she write the press release herself and they would distribute it for her. This is one of the big Canadian universities.

My own experience is that the science writing in Canadian [university] science news releases tends to be fairly poor. There are some exceptions and those would be [universities] in the provinces of Ontario and Québec. I believe there is more public outreach interest amongst scientists but there is very little institutional support. Especially when you contrast [this] with the situation in the UK.

Thanks to one of my LinkedIn discussion groups I found out about an audio podcast produced by Rebecca Nesbitt, press officer for the Society of Biology, for a media work shop with a rather unwieldy title (Voice of Young Science Standing up for Science). Since this was an event in the UK, it may take a moment for those more familiar with Canadian or US English to adjust their listening skills*. From the podcast webpage on the Society of Biology website (ETA Aug. 10, 2012: This podcast seems to have been removed from its webpage and is not currently accessible),

I was much struck by the section where someone suggests relying on a press officer to help. I imagine most Canadian scientists would be slack-jawed with envy.

The Voice of Young Science Standing up for Science workshops are an initiative of the Sense about Science charitable trust. From the About us page,

We are a charitable trust that equips people to make sense of scientific and medical claims in public discussion.

With a database of over 5,000 scientists, from Nobel prize winners to postdocs and PhD students, we work in partnership with scientific bodies, research publishers, policy makers, the public and the media, to change public discussions about science and evidence. Through award-winning public campaigns, we share the tools of scientific thinking and scrutiny. Our growing international Voice of Young Science network engages hundreds of early career researchers in public debates about research and evidence. Our activities and publications are used and shaped by community groups, civic bodies, patient organisations, information services, writers, publishers, educators, health services and many others.

There is no comparable institutional support of this kind in Canada.

ETA Sept. 24, 2012: I have added a few words between square brackets to my original posting. Hopefully, this is better grammar than my original attempts.

* The word ‘so’ was removed and ‘mare’ changed to ‘more’ on May 19, 2014.