China Science Communication, one of the brand programs of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), held a ceremony to celebrate its Starry Sky Lecture sub-program and initiated 2023 incubation sub-program for nourishing online popular science works in Beijing on March 31, 2023.

Under the guidance of CAST, the event was co-sponsored by the Department of Science Popularization of CAST, the China Science and Technology Press and the China Science Writers Association (CSWA), and jointly sponsored by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology (BAST), Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology (ZAST), Henan Association for Science and Technology (HAST), Hubei Association for Science and Technology, and Guangdong Association for Science and Technology (GAST).

Chen Junshi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and researcher of the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Meng Qinghai, full-time vice president and executive secretary of the Secretariat of CAST, among other responsible personnel attended the event.

A grand online popular science lecture show was livestreamed on the China Science Communication and Tiktok platforms simultaneously to attract concerns of 5 targeted groups i.e. teenagers, farmers, industrial workers, senior people, leading cadres and civil servants.

Sub-venues were set up in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Shenzhen. Representatives of sci-tech professionals from universities, research institutes, national sci-tech enterprises and professional institutions were invited to share experiences at the grand show, and the online views hit a high record of over 850,000.

At the main venue of the event, Chen Junshi delivered a report entitled "Current situation and new concepts of food safety issues in science popularization", interpreting facing challenges and proposing suggestions for high-quality science popularization in the field of food safety.

Gou Lijun, researcher of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), Lin Guole, chief physician of basic surgery of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Zhao Di, head of a newly established team "Weaving chicken" which creates popular science video clips and has achieved instant success, Shang Qingmao, researcher at the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IVF CAAS), and other experts shared their skills and experiences.

Professor Ye Sheng from Beihang University, Dr. Shi Jun from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Botany science, Duan Yulong, science program producer, Huang Xin, host of an account on Bilibili talking about animals, Zhou Zhe, host of an account of "MommyTalk" on Bilibili, and Liu Jiayu, young artist in the field of science and art, co-hosted a roundtable session to share their insight on communicating science.

Chu Xiaogang, chief expert of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, and Liu Wanjie, senior director and chief editor of China Central Television's music channel, performed a violin sonata, letting audiences enjoy the charm of arts in addition to the logic and knowledge of science, exploring the way of integrating science and art.

At the event, Chen Junshi and Meng Qinghai presented trophies to Liang Yichen, lecturer at Xi'an Aeronautical Institute, and other 4 representatives who delivered excellent performance in 2022 incubation program for nourishing popular science works and jointly launched the 2023 incubation program for nourishing online popular science works with all representatives.

CAST launched the Starry sky lecture sub-program in 2022 to give full play to its organizational advantages to mobilize various social sectors to take part in training personnel, creating popular science works and better communicating science on its China Science Communication platform and other major online platforms.

The program mobilized 6,000 plus teams and individuals and signed contracts to support the creation of over 1,200 high-quality popular science works. The original works were disseminated over 400 million person times.

In 2023, the program aims to solicit high-quality online popular science works and provide full chain services for Chinese sci-tech professionals to better communicate science for enhancing the nation’s science popularization capacity.

Tag: Department of Science Popularization of CAST, Science Communication