Outreach SFBD

In 2022 we started to combine our scientific meetings with multi-faceted outreach events, to make Developmental Biology and science in general more accesible to the lay audicence.

2022 (Nov 7-10): Strasbourg in the Light of Biology as part of the 3rd Franco-Japanese Developmental Biology meeting

With the creation of this video-mapping event (sound and light projection) on the theme of Developmental Biology in a key location in Strasbourg city centre, the Palais Rohan, our ambition has been to offer the general public a scientific and poetic animated film dedicated to one of the most fascinating enigmas in biology: how a sophisticated organism, made up of billions of cells assembled into organs, can be created. The film and soundtrack were created by the multi-talented artist Julien Ribot with the help of scientific images from around thirty labs in France. Through this in situ creation, the façade of the Palais Rohan and its architectural elements were transformed into a giant organism, animal and plant, as if the Palais were truly alive. In this way, while highlighting the work carried out in these laboratories, we offered the general public a gateway to biology in a visually appealing and playful way.

Coordination : Glenda Comai / Maëva Luxey ; support & financement : Sophie Jarriault
Partenaires : AZ Extended, Ateliers Eclairés

Biology workshops and explanations of the scientific approach were offered in schools, covering cycles 1, 2, 3 & 4. We reached 754 children, and 220 secondary school students. These workshops, created with the help of the Jardin des Sciences (JdS) by researchers from the SFBD, were run by thesis students or volunteer researchers from university laboratories and congress participants. In addition, training was provided for teachers in advance of the event, and post-intervention follow-up, including the donation of teaching materials, with the help of the Maison pour la Science Alsace (MSA).

Coordination : Maëva Luxey ; support: Sophie Jarriault/Eglantine Heude
Partenaires : JdS (creation help), MSA (identification of classes, preparation)

We have proposed two lectures for the general public, presented by a French and a Japanese researcher to mark the opening and the end of the scientific conference.

• Chris Bowler, the immense microscopic world of the oceans explored by the TARA expeditions (in French)
• Shigeru Kuratani, How new forms and functions were generated in the course of evolution (in English)

Moreover, with the aim of demystifying what a scientific conference is and showing how knowledge is created and shared at international level, 10 citizens per half-day could come and listen to the scientific lectures and interact with the researchers.

Coordination : Sophie Jarriault
Partenaires : JdS, MSA, MUFJ, OR NORME, IGBMC, HFSP, JSDB

A collection of 14 media created by students in their third year at HEAR (Haute Ecole d’Art du Rhin) was on display at the Palais Universitaire, place where the meeting was held. Supervised by Olivier Poncer, Olivier-Marc Nadel and Aurélie Gasche, each of these works was created by a student-scientist specialist team. These interactions were made possible thanks to the Dialog Science programme and a cross-border education grant (EUCOR).

Coordination : Maëva Luxey
Partenaires : JdS, MSA (identification of classes), HEAR