Crastina is a platform for the exchange of experience, knowledge and inspiration regarding both scientific peer-to-peer communication and science dissemination

What? An international network of (mostly young) people who love to communicate science & tech.
Why? We think science needs to be communicated with more passion and professionalism.
Where? On our website with interviews & resources + on social media + on Skype and IRL.
Who? A content group (the Crew), a think tank (the Academy), + lots of friends & contacts.
When? Right now – as a matter of fact, we’ve just geared up.

India STEM Foundation – The First of Its Kind, connecting young minds around the world

The India STEM Foundation was born in a journey to bridge the gap of scientific skills between students in India and those in technologically advanced countries. At the root of this organization is Sudhanshu Sharma, a visionary determined to…

Interviews

Meet Sarang Park – manager of @IAmSciComm

Here at Crastina, we're very proud to be hosting one of the most influential channels in the #SciComm world: the @IAmSciComm rotating Twitter account. We checked in with the account manager, Sarang Park, to see how she is doing. Founded by…

Opinion & Reflection

Sharing an experience we all can relate to – our childhood

Can we really relate to a general adult audience? That’s the million dollar question for all SciCommers. The team behind Frontiers for Young Minds chooses a unique approach: they tackle the hurdles of understanding by engaging kids as reviewers. This…

Our current theme: “SciComm in Africa”

Pearl Osirike: “The beginning of a new era: science communication in Africa”

A Crastina Column by Pearl Osirike, Ph.D. student at West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), University of Ghana.

Read the Crastina Column

This time, we will learn more about SciComm activities emerging from a geographical area which is often overlooked in the general discussion about science and its communication: Africa.

On the one hand, it is true that African academia has to cope with persistent challenges like poor funding, inadequate infrastructure, staff shortages and recruitment problems. The everyday struggle of experimental scientists is hard to imagine for those who work in labs in Europe and North America. For example, the difficulty of transporting tissue samples and biomolecules sometimes add weeks and months to projects – parcels are lost, frozen samples become thawed and are ruined on the way, et cetera.

On the other hand, anyone who studies the websites of African universities and research institutes will be met by an impressing vitality and optimism. Innumerous projects are ongoing across this vast continent, and many of them include SciComm activities which all provide a lesson for anyone ready to read, ask and reflect.

We have rarely felt such anticipation when initiating a theme here at Crastina; we are confident that we all – authors and readers have much – to learn.

For The Crastina Crew

Olle Bergman, Project Leader