The 3rd annual Japan SciCom Forum (JSF) will be held online on October 26 and 27, 2021, featuring local and international science communication experts.

The keynote speaker will be Brooke Smith, Director of Public Engagement with Science at The Kavli Foundation. Four interactive workshops will cover strategic planning of online events, translating intercultural contexts, how to sketchnote, and understanding how DOIs and Altmetric tools are used for research impact. An expert panel will discuss the divide between journalism and public relations. And there are many more exciting sessions, including the Virtual Networking session.

Japan SciCom Forum started in 2018 to build a community for anyone working on globally targeted science communication and outreach from Japan. Press officers, journalists, researchers, students, translators, URAs and others are welcome, whether based in Japan or abroad. 2018 and 2019 annual conferences were hosted by ELSI and gathered about 250 participants across Japan.

The third edition of the conference is held online due to COVID-19 circumstances, and the organising team has created an engaging programme using Zoom and SpatialChat platform. “We hope that JSF will not only develop further as a community of science communicators in Japan but also that many people from outside Japan will join this time as it will be online,” says Tomomi Okubo (OIST), organising team of JSF. “We are excited to host and support the orgnaising of JSF for the third time at ELSI as it creates an opportunity to boost the English-language science communication practices in Japan,” adds Thilina Heenatigala (ELSI), organising team of JSF.

The free registration is now open: http://japanscicom.github.io/ (deadline October 13)