Calling California Grad Students and Postdocs: Apply for CCST’s California Science Translators Showcase!

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is excited to seek graduate students, postdocs, and early-career faculty in California for the CCST Science Translators Showcase, held as part of our 2019 Science & Technology Week at the California State Capitol!

The chosen presenters will get a chance to explain their research to legislative staffers, agency managers, and senior policy leaders during a networking event at the California State Capitol. We’re looking for candidates who are eager to learn and practice science communication skills and convey the relevance of their research to public policy applications. The goal of this experience is to improve their skills in offering impartial, nonpartisan advice to policymakers, to meet other amazing researchers, and to proudly represent their home institution.

Applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

1. Must be a current masters or PhD student, or a postdoc, in a science or engineering field at one of the following education systems: University of California, California State University, Stanford, Caltech, or California Community Colleges. Graduate students and postdocs at NASA and U.S. Department of Energy laboratories in California are also eligible. Early-career faculty (within three years of first hire) from California Community Colleges are also invited to apply.
2. Must be available to travel to Sacramento for the day-long event on Wednesday, February 6th, 2019. Chosen presenters will receive reimbursement for mileage or airfare and ground
   transportation. Selected applicants will also participate in four separate hour-long training webinars ahead of the event (scheduled for Thursday Jan. 10th, Jan. 17th, Jan. 24th, and Jan
   31st at 2pm PST).

Showcase applications are due by 11:59 p.m. PST, Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
Instructions and application form can be accessed at the following link*:
bit.ly/CCSTShowcaseApply2019

*If you have trouble accessing the application, please sign in using your Google account. 

Additional program information and a program FAQ are available:
http://bit.ly/CCSTShowcase2019PressFAQ

A critical component of the application process is a 60-second audition video. In it, applicants must explain their research and how it helps inform potential policy solutions in California. This is the applicant’s chance to demonstrate their ability to engagingly and concisely translate technical information, tailoring their message and delivery to a senior policymaking audience and staff. Selection will take place in early December, and candidates will be chosen based on the quality of their auditions, and to represent a diversity of research topics, home institutions, and personal experiences.

“The Science Translators Showcase is an excellent opportunity for researchers interested in science policy to engage with decision makers, especially for graduate students who are not yet able to apply for our CCST Science Fellows program,” says Sarah Brady PhD, CCST Interim Deputy Director. “CCST is excited to present some of the state’s most engaging early career researchers to the Capitol audience for what will be our third installment of the Science Translators Showcase series.”

CCST debuted its “Science Translators Showcase” event series in February 2018 at the California State Capitol during CCST’s Science & Technology Week, where 15 graduate students and postdocs from California campuses networked with legislators and staffers for an afternoon session. They discussed topics spanning biomedicine, wildfires, earthquake hazards, and surface physics. Following up on the success of the first showcase, CCST held a special edition “Climate Science Translators Showcase” at Governor Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit in September 2018.

Download this Press Release as a PDF.

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About the California Council on Science and Technology

The California Council on Science and Technology is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established via the California State Legislature in 1988. CCST engages leading experts in science and technology to advise state decisionmakers ― ensuring that California policy is strengthened and informed by scientific knowledge, research, and innovation. Find CCST on Facebook at facebook.com/ccstorg, on Twitter @CCSTorg, and on LinkedIn. Discover how CCST makes California’s policies stronger with science at www.ccst.us, and join us in celebrating #CCST30th.