The Science and Technology Facilities Council offers free one-day Media Awareness and Communications Skills courses for researchers, as part of its Science in Society programme.

The Media course introduces scientists to the world of the mass media, press releases, how to be interviewed, etc; the next dates are 23 February 2011 in London and 18 March 2011 at the Royal Society’s Kavli Centre in Buckinghamshire, as part of a two day residential communication skills and media training course.

The Communications course includes how to write clearly without using jargon, structure a talk, use visual aids effectively, how to chair conferences, and how to run question and answer sessions. The next dates are 2 March 2011 in London and 17 March 2011 at the Royal Society’s Kavli Centre in Buckinghamshire, as part of a two day residential communication skills and media training course.

STFC offers bursaries to pay the course fees and T&S costs for eligible researchers. The courses are run for us by the Royal Society. To book a place visit http://royalsociety.org/Communication-and-Media-Training/ . Once you have a place, visit http://www.stfc.ac.uk/Public+and+Schools/1333.aspx to apply for an STFC bursary. Contact for more information: [log in to unmask], Tel 01793 442030

Jane Butt, STFC Science in Society programme.