Types of science communication jobs - a list

The most up to date version of this post lives at the ScicommJobs blog

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Prospects.ac.uk is a website with a listing of the types of jobs associated with a particular degree / discipline, full list here https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/

Some examples

• What can I do with a biology degree?
• What can I do with an environmental science degree?
• What can I do with a computer science degree?

The biology one does mention 'science writer' as an option but largely focuses on continuing to be a scientist - I didn't find much on the site promoting jobs in science communication. Pinching the list idea of job types from Prospect and the idea of the range of different scicomm sectors from myself I've come up with a starter-list of types of things science communicators might do.

Perhaps you'll be reading this and going "oh for heaven's sake she's forgotten X", hopefully you'll tell me :) @JoBrodie

There's a lot of overlap among the different sectors mentioned, I suppose we could also divide jobs into those where you communicate science face to face, by written media (blogs, newspapers), or spoken (radio) or on TV...

Museums, science centres

• Museum explainer - someone who supports visitors as they meander through the exhibits
• Science show or Planetarium presenter - someone who gives a short talk and possibly answers questions
• Blogger (likely to be part of another role though) - someone who shares interesting or even quirky aspects of the centre's collection

Science or medical journalism

• (Blogger - unpaid, own time)
• As anyone can create a free blog this is a low-cost (beyond time) way of getting some writing practice and seeing what works, while building up a portfolio. While it's highly unlikely that the blog itself would provide an income it may lead to other opportunities.
• Writer / journalist for newspaper or medical journal etc
• Editor / Commissioning Editor
• Researcher / fact-checker
• Social media / blogger (as a job) / podcast or other audiovisual content creator
• For science or medical journals some of these jobs may also be combined with the admin of seeking reviewers for articles submitted, and managing the article submission and publication process. 

TV or radio presenting, or contributor, editor, producer, researcher

• (This can also be a subset of science / medical journalism)
• Might be a helpful idea to create your own YouTube channel so people can see what you're like on camera, perhaps not just presenting to camera but interacting with an interviewed guest. Or something like a podcast.
• See also a post of mine from 2011 on How to be a science presenter, from a BBC Science talk at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Medical research charities / patient groups (also science research-funding Research Councils)

• Head of Research / Research Grants Manager / Research Grants administrator 
• all involve the administration of the charity's research portfolio which includes managing applications and finding reviewers for them. There is also a lot of translating all this science into plain English to tell supporters what they've funded and why it's important, also for fundraising colleagues to be able to use that info to raise funds.
• (Science) Information Manager / Officer aka Public Information Officer (PIO)
• this job may be combined with other Comms roles but typically includes helping colleagues, healthcare professionals and the public (eg via a Q&A helpline) make sense of the latest and historical research into the relevant condition and help keep everyone up to date. Often this task overlaps with librarian work.
• Director of Communications / Head of Press / Press Officer / PR & publicity
• this can incorporate science communication when writing a press release about research the charity has funded (or commenting on research from elsewhere) but will also involve policy work, and promoting events or news items that might be less scicomm-oriented.
• Publications editor / writer
• Some charities have a magazine for members, also a more medical one for healthcare professionals and even without that there's a high chance that there will be patient information leaflets or info leaflets for medics. These may be written in-house by staff with a biomedical background.

Government / Policy

• Researcher / writer of brief 'POSTnotes' for ministers via the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology. 
• Department-specific roles eg in BEIS etc.

Learned societies / professional bodies

• Head of public events, event manager, officer - some learned societies will have a programme of public events
• Social media / blogger (as a job) / podcast or other audiovisual content creator - to share info with professional members and the public about events or subject-specific information
• See also Publications editor / writer in Medical charities section as many societies have their own members magazine.

Universities

• Public engagement co-ordinators / managers
• this role may be attached to a particular department (eg one for the Biology dept, another for chemistry) or attached to a dedicated Engagement department. Individual large research projects may also employ their own to both involve stakeholders in the development of the research and later to support dissemination of the project's results.
• Scicomm as a sideline to research
• For people already working as scientists in a university there are plenty of opportunities to share their own research, comment on others' research in the news media. Also plenty of opportunities to make their work accessible via public lectures, fun events, having school groups visit (or giving talks to schools).