ELSI’s Public Relations (PR) Office coordinates multilingual outreach efforts in English and Japanese for students and the public. The outreach is conducted under the framework of ‘Science with and for Society (SwafS)’ to have a multilevel engagement between the publics and the researchers as one societal community. The activities are focused on introducing and engaging with ELSI’s interdisciplinary research in Origins of life and Earth.

 

The PR Office highlights ELSI’s latest research efforts through annual outreach efforts such as ELSI Annual Public Lecture, Joint Public Lecture with Kavli IPMU and IRCN, and Tokyo Tech Festival (Koudaisai). ELSI School Visit Programme invites school students to visit ELSI for direct engagement with researchers and graduate students. These visits often include lab tours and experiments by giving hands-on experience. ELSI researchers and graduate students frequently visit schools to conduct lectures and other activities. These internal and external outreach efforts are focused on research, scientific careers, and ELSI graduate programme.

 

Together with the ELSI Editorial Board, the PR Office publish Press Releases and Research Highlights to bring the latest results to the media, publics, and the scientific community. The number of articles per year has been increasing steadily and is often covered in local and international media outlets.

 

Departing from traditional methods, the office thrives on discovering fresh, creative approaches that combine science and art highlighting the human side of research. As a result, the PR Office established the ‘Science-Art Residency Programme’, in which an artist is selected to work with a group of ELSI researchers on a particular theme annually. The outcome of these collaborations is displayed on the third floor of ELSI building.

 

In conveying ELSI’s most recent revelations to the public, the PR Office enjoys playing a part in sparking the interest, excitement, and curiosity of the wider community.