Blog

How the NSF promotes international collaboration

Posted by Dan Richman, Program Assistant for the Community Engagement Fellows Program. The American Chemical Society (ACS) International Center, a neighbor of AAAS here in Washington, DC, provides resources that … Continue reading “How the NSF promotes international collaboration”

Posted by Dan Richman, Program Assistant for the Community Engagement Fellows Program.

"The ALMA fox" by Alessandro Caproni, licensed under CC BY 2.0. ALMA is one of the international collaborations in which the NSF is involved. — “The ALMA fox” by Alessandro Caproni, licensed under CC BY 2.0. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array is an international collaboration in which the NSF is involved.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) International Center, a neighbor of AAAS here in Washington, DC, provides resources that help scientists in all fields prepare for the challenges of global scientific collaboration. For those who aren’t in town, they also offer their lectures as webinars. Back in June, I reported on a webinar that offered practical advice for working with globally distributed and multicultural teams.

As the District cooled off in late September, I visited the ACS headquarters in person to hear Dr. Rebecca Spyke Keiser, Head of the Office of International Science and Engineering of the National Science Foundation (NSF), give a talk titled “International Collaboration at NSF: Expanding the Frontiers of Research and Creating a Globally Engaged Workforce”. In this post I report back with some highlights from that talk.

Continue reading “How the NSF promotes international collaboration”

Deadline approaching: Applications for the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program due this Sunday, October 16

A few weeks ago we opened applications for the pilot year of the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program. We’ve been excited to see applications coming in from individuals and potential … Continue reading “Deadline approaching: Applications for the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program due this Sunday, October 16”

Adapted from “Deadline” by palomaleca, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

A few weeks ago we opened applications for the pilot year of the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program. We’ve been excited to see applications coming in from individuals and potential host organizations. Some individuals are interested in joining the scientific community engagement field for the first time and others are current community managers, all from a wide variety of backgrounds and institutions. The potential host organizations we’ve been in touch with are also wide-ranging, from discipline-focused professional societies to major international research projects.

Continue reading “Deadline approaching: Applications for the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program due this Sunday, October 16”

Scientific community managers’ top challenges and training needs

In our series of posts about results of the State of Scientific Community Management survey we’ve looked into what types of organizations are home to scientific communities, examined their communication … Continue reading “Scientific community managers’ top challenges and training needs”

In our series of posts about results of the State of Scientific Community Management survey we’ve looked into what types of organizations are home to scientific communities, examined their communication channels and ways of planning activities, and analyzed scientific community managers’ backgrounds, skill sets, and how their positions are funded.

In our final blog post about survey results, we return to the topic of community managers’ skill sets, focusing on their top challenges and the areas where they want more training.

Continue reading “Scientific community managers’ top challenges and training needs”

How scientific community managers shape activity planning

We’re back with more insight from the State of Scientific Community Management survey. Previous posts have explored aspects of the community management position, the nature of the organizations where communities … Continue reading “How scientific community managers shape activity planning”

We’re back with more insight from the State of Scientific Community Management survey. Previous posts have explored aspects of the community management position, the nature of the organizations where communities are found, and features of the communities themselves such as their communication channels.

In this post we look at three findings about program and activity planning in communities. Read on to see how having a community manager leads to activities that are more frequent, strategically planned, and participatory.

Continue reading “How scientific community managers shape activity planning”

The new AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program is now accepting applications

We’re excited to announce that applications are open for the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program through Sunday, October 16, 2016. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Fellows Program … Continue reading “The new AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program is now accepting applications”

"Application - glasses - pen" by Flazingo Photos, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 — “Application – glasses – pen” by Flazingo Photos, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

We’re excited to announce that applications are open for the AAAS Community Engagement Fellows Program through Sunday, October 16, 2016.

Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Fellows Program is in its pilot year. The program’s mission is to improve community-building and collaboration within scientific organizations, including both professional associations and research collaborations. The program will provide training and support to a cohort of scientific community managers for a full year.

You can learn more about the purpose and timeline of the program on our About page.

How to apply

We’re seeking two types of applicants for the fellowship: current scientific community managers, and individuals looking to enter the field and be placed in an organization. See our Become a Fellow page to read about what’s expected of Fellows during the program, and for info on the eligibility and selection criteria for each of these options.

We’re also keen to hear from organizations interested in hosting a Fellow. If your organization is interested in developing or facilitating your collaboration or community, please email us at communityfellows@aaas.org to start a conversation. You can read more about expectations during the program, eligibility, and application requirements for host organizations on the Host a Fellow page as well.

For more information about the program, including interviews with existing scientific community managers, see these related posts on the Trellis Blog.

Online platforms are still making inroads in scientific communities

In previous posts about our State of Scientific Community Management survey, we’ve explored what types of scientific organizations have communities and we’ve described features of scientific community managers’ training and … Continue reading “Online platforms are still making inroads in scientific communities”

Today, we’re looking at some properties of the actual communities: their communication channels and platforms. Read on to find out about online versus offline communication channels and the adoption of online community platforms.

Continue reading “Online platforms are still making inroads in scientific communities”

Community manager journal club recap: Fostering a sense of belonging

Posted by Gabrielle Rabinowitz, Community Manager at Trellis We’ve recently started a monthly community management journal club at AAAS. In our first two meetings, we’ve focused on two questions at the heart … Continue reading “Community manager journal club recap: Fostering a sense of belonging”

Posted by Gabrielle Rabinowitz, Community Manager at Trellis

"Passt 2" by Willi Heidelbach, licensed under CC BY 2.0 — “Passt 2” by Willi Heidelbach, licensed under CC BY 2.0

We’ve recently started a monthly community management journal club at AAAS. In our first two meetings, we’ve focused on two questions at the heart of community building: “What makes a group of people a community?” and “How do these communities vary?” The readings for these meetings included an excerpt from Jono Bacon’s The Art of Community and a blog post by Lou Woodley, Considering Community: What types of community are there?

One theme that emerged from our discussions was the importance of belonging. Read on for different interpretations of this value and how to foster it in your community.

Continue reading “Community manager journal club recap: Fostering a sense of belonging”

Exploring scientific community managers’ skill sets

So far, our analysis of the State of Scientific Community Management survey has addressed scientific community managers’ education and training, the types of organizations that hire them, and the funding … Continue reading “Exploring scientific community managers’ skill sets”

In this post we explore the skillsets that scientific community managers rely on in their current roles. We asked our survey respondents to rate the importance of 5 key skill sets, originally delineated by The Community Roundtable for the broader field of community management outside science. Read on to learn about which skill set ranks highest, and how the rankings change depending on seniority.

Continue reading “Exploring scientific community managers’ skill sets”

Why we’re running monthly community manager journal clubs at AAAS – and how you can join in on the blog!

Posted by Lou Woodley, Trellis’ Community Engagement Director. It’ll come as no surprise that I spend a lot of my time thinking about community management. But in recent years that’s … Continue reading “Why we’re running monthly community manager journal clubs at AAAS – and how you can join in on the blog!”

Posted by Lou Woodley, Trellis’ Community Engagement Director.

Adapted from “Prepping for book club” by Britt Reints, licensed under CC BY 2.0

It’ll come as no surprise that I spend a lot of my time thinking about community management. But in recent years that’s expanded from focusing on the strategy and mechanics of community-building, to thinking in more detail about the people that actually support group work: the community managers.

Continue reading “Why we’re running monthly community manager journal clubs at AAAS – and how you can join in on the blog!”

A closer look at the funding landscape for scientific community managers

Through the State of Scientific Community Management survey we’ve collected data on all facets of the field. So far we’ve looked at scientific community managers’ education and training and identified … Continue reading “A closer look at the funding landscape for scientific community managers”

Through the State of Scientific Community Management survey we’ve collected data on all facets of the field. So far we’ve looked at scientific community managers’ education and training and identified which types of organizations are hiring them. We’ve also learned that insufficient funding is the number one reason why organizations lack community managers.

Today, we’re following up on this finding by digging a little deeper into the picture of funding for community managers. Read on for 3 key findings.

Continue reading “A closer look at the funding landscape for scientific community managers”