3D printed sausages on the menu at Europe's biggest science event in Copenhagen

(Nanowerk News) Delegates attending this year’s largest European science event – the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Copenhagen from 21-26 June - will have the opportunity to sample a 3D printed sausage, courtesy of EU-funded projects PERFORMANCE and CommNet.
EuroScience Open Forum
The high-tech delicacy will be on offer at the CommNet stand (no.37) in ESOF’s Carlsberg Museum venue during one of several drop-in sessions, which will take place throughout the five day event and will deliver key insight to topics of personal and professional relevance.
CommNet is a support network for EU-funded projects in the knowledge-based bioeconomy (KBBE), helping scientists and researchers to identify and communicate with key stakeholders. Membership of CommNet is absolutely free for KBBE projects and enables access to a range of benefits, from strategic communications and media training to educational toolkits and business networking opportunities.
3D sausages
Looking ahead to ESOF, Clare Taylor from CommNet partner Pracsis says, “CommNet brings cutting-edge research in the bioeconomy to a wider audience and ESOF is a fantastic opportunity to do this. The event also encourages us all to ask the question: is science only for scientists, or is science for everyone?"
“I’ll be delivering a drop-in session on industry communication (Tues/Weds.11.30am) and there’ll be a chance to learn about projects such as PHARMASEA, which is searching the deepest oceans in the quest for new antibiotics and pharmaceuticals, and BIOSURFING, which is shaping bio-based platforms for eco-friendly chemical production of detergents. The CommNet stand is also the only place at ESOF where visitors can taste 3-D printed sausages, courtesy of the PERFORMANCE project.”
Outreach
Other drop-in sessions will cover webinars, education, social media, and story-telling. Roy Ballam from CommNet partner British Nutrition Foundation explains, “The webinar session (Mon/Tues/Weds. 3.30pm) will be an informal opportunity to talk about the use of webinars as a tool to communicate projects, research and findings to inform and engage a variety of different audiences. We’ll also look at the benefits of the technology, such as the reduced need for travel, being able to communicate widely in real time, share documents, interact and engage with people, and record sessions for retrospective viewing. And we’ll explain how CommNet has used webinars to engage its own community”.
Roy is also involved in a session on education and communicating research to young people throughout Europe (Mon/Tues/Weds. 11am) He’ll explain how CommNet has been developing the FABtoolkit for schools, focusing on biotechnology, agriculture, fisheries and food for children and young people aged 5 to 16 years.
Social media is also a key tool for effective communication in today’s world and Silvia Raimondi from CommNet partner youris.com will deliver a session (Mon/Tues/Weds. 2.30pm) all about the most popular social networks and how to select the best one to ensure a research project has the right impact. “Attendees will be given quick and easy insight to the management of social media accounts and will learn how to measure success,” says Silvia.
Story-telling with Kylie the fish, Nemo’s sister
Finally, come along to the CommNet stand to meet Kylie the fish in our story-telling session! (Mon/Tues/Weds. 4.30pm).
As Rhonda Smith from CommNet partner Minerva UK explains, “Every research project has a story to tell (as has Kylie) – it has a beginning (the question), a middle (the activity) and an ending (the results). It has characters (the people), a plot (the timeline) and drama (the challenges). Humans have engaged with stories since time began - our brains are wired to love them! We’ll be inviting researchers to start thinking stories, not information, and ensure their research project becomes a success story.”
Source: Youris