Popular Science Journalism
In russian
Level of education Master
Type of instruction Full-time
Duration 2 years
- The programme is aimed at applicants with a university degree in various fields (journalism, philology, history, sociology, psychology, physics, biology) who wish to continue their studies or gain additional knowledge in the field of popular science journalism
- The programme is designed to provide in-depth professional training for highly qualified journalists specialising in science, who have fundamental knowledge of the theory and practice of modern journalism and science and are also capable of competent research and academic activities
- The programme focuses on the development of professional competences, involving both the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and the acquisition of practical skills and abilities. During training, master’s students acquire knowledge of: current trends in science coverage and forms of presenting scientific information in the media; scientific paradigms and the development of scientific cognition in interaction with social dynamics; models of science communication; and methods and principles of work of a science journalist
- Academic mobility is organised in cooperation with universities in Russia, Europe and the USA. Some courses of the programme are taught in English
- Science Mediatisation
- History of Popular Science Journalism
- Environmental Journalism
- Modern Natural Science
- Human Cognition, Language, and Evolution
- Cognitive Neurophysiology
- Popularisers of Science
- There are a number of programmes with a close focus on the training of science communicators (with a major in social and humanitarian/technical-science journalism). However, the problematic field of science communication is extremely broad: science communication; science PR; and museology (science museums) to name just a few. This determines the inevitable conceptual and professional non-specificity of the educational process. The master’s programme "Popular Science Journalism" is designed to train: namely journalists who specialise in reporting on the science agenda; and to a lesser extent, science communicators
- The degree programme "Popular Science Journalism" is unique both in terms of the thematic content of the set of core academic disciplines (in history, philology, physics, biology) and in its general orientation: it provides training of versatile science journalists
- The programme "Popular Science Journalism" is implemented at the Graduate School of Journalism and Mass Communication in cooperation with other departments at St Petersburg University: first and foremost, the Institute for Cognitive Research, but also the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Biology at St Petersburg University
- Programme partners among other higher education institutions in Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Novosibirsk State University, Tomsk State University. The programme’s foreign partners are the School of Journalism at Michigan State University (the USA), and the Università degli Studi di Genova (Italy)
- Scientific, cultural and educational institutions and social organisations: the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskij Dom), the Russian Academy of Sciences; the National Library of Russia; the National Pushkin Museum; the St Petersburg Union of Scientists
- Print and online media: St Petersburg University magazine; popular science magazine "Machines and Mechanisms" (the Foundation for Basic Research "21st Century"); local history magazine "Addresses of St Petersburg"; scientific community newspaper "Poisk"; and electronic magazine "Mozgokratiia"
The range of disciplines within the programme covers a number of subject areas in popular science journalism: the history and theory of science in relation to the history of science popularisation; modern convergent processes in science and the natural science worldview; the main media channels and methods of science popularisation; and the legacy of leading national popularisers of scientific knowledge.
Graduates of the programme will be able to engage in professional and creative author’s and project and analytical journalism in specialised media of scientific and educational profile or in the science departments of general media (including print, television, radio, news agencies, and Internet publications). They can also work in the press offices of research institutions, and conduct research and teaching activities in the field of popular science and cultural-educational journalism.
- Journalist, correspondent (journalistic activity)
- Editor (editing activity)
- Press officer, employee of an advertising agency, public relations agency (applied information and communication activities)
- Researcher, analyst, research associate (research activities)
- Teacher (educational and teaching activity)