Neuroscience for All: Sharing Neuroscience with Your Community

Abstract

Science communication plays an essential role in bridging the gap between researchers and the general public. Now, more than ever, it is essential for neuroscientists to interact with their communities to increase understanding of basic neuroscience concepts and enhance trust in academic scientists as members of the community. However, it can be difficult, as scientists, to develop and maintain effective lines of communication with the public. To address this, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, we have been organizing public outreach events aimed to educate the public about various aspects of neuroscience. The goal of this article is to share our strategy for expanding our successful once-per-year “Brain Awareness Week” event to a year-round “Neuroscience for All” program and to provide practical materials and a dedicated, interactive GitHub-based platform for discussion of personal experiences and extensions and improvements to materials. We hope that the resources and examples we outline will facilitate other institutions to easily expand existing programs or create new ones from scratch and that our online forum will facilitate broader discussion and improvement of neuroscience outreach initiatives across institutions.