A discussion called “Popularisation of science - a job for creative industries or young scientists?” was held on June 5 as part of the International Youth Economic Forum at SPIEF-2021. Yulia Golubeva, deputy CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding, took part in the discussion.
The event’s participants discussed how to bring talented youth, young scientists into science, and how the creative industries can help with that. Marina Abramova, director of Roskulturtsentr, moderated the discussion. Speakers included Andrey Krichevsky, chairman of the committee on intellectual property and creative industries at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Sergey Lyulin, deputy president of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Nikita Marchenkov, acting director of the Kurchatov Complex for Synchrotron and Neutron Research, “Kurchatov Institute”; Sergey Parshin, general manager of the Centre for the Development of Cultural Initiatives; Denis Sekirinsky, deputy director of Russia’s Presidential Office on Scientific and Educational Policy; Aleksandr Sokolov, senior scientist at the Arctic Research Station of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, among others.
Yulia Golubeva brought up the popular TV series The Big Bang Theory and The Queen’s Gambit as examples of how memorable screen personalities increased the viewers’ interest in physics and chess, respectively.
She also shared Gazprom-Media Holding’s experience in this regard and spoke about the science-inspired projects the Holding is working on. Among these are the NTV program Chuydo Tekhniki (Miracle of Technology) with host Sergei Malozemov, Friday! TV chanel’s Umnyy Dom (Smart House), as well as initiatives to support the national “Nauka” project and events organised to celebrate the Year of Science and Technology.
Yulia Golubeva added that the process of popularising science is multifaceted and requires fine tuning. When creating memorable on-screen characters, one should be prepared for the fact that real life might not be as exciting as what’s shown on screen. There might be other side effects as well.
To conclude her presentation, Yulia Golubeva emphasised the important role creative industries can play in popularising science.