CERN's head of communications on the media flap

James Gillies, the poor soul who had to put up with Andrew Marr and a media circus on the day the world did not end, offers his account on what happened at at the LHC in an interview with Matthew Chalmers on physicsworld.com, CERN: the view from inside. Among other things, James puts paid to the rumour that it was all set up around Marr's holiday plans, but he does admit that "The BBC did ask if we could put the date back if Andrew couldn’t make it, and we said “no”."
What about that "black hole" scare? "Ultimately it helped us by generating interest, but it also worried an awful lot of people and that makes me somewhat angry. People were phoning us up genuinely worried about the end of the world and demanding to know who CERN is accountable to."
The interview is an interesting account of what went on at CERN, especially the aftermath, when the thing quickly experienced and expensive breakdown. There are tales of (temporarily) suppressed pictures, rewritten notebooks and, reading between the lines, one or two people who thought they could manage the news for their own purposes.
The good news, if you are that way inclined, is that there will be a second chance to experience the excitement, when they restart the LHC. There will, though, be a somewhat smaller circus.
This time we won't have to go there to see what is happening. "The whole process will be webcast. CERN was unwilling to invest in bandwidth before the 10th so the webcast fell over very early in the morning, but we’ve since had companies offering us bandwidth in exchange for having their logo displayed."
Perhaps they should seek funds from those other creators of black holes, the world's banks. Then again, they probably don't have that much spare cash lying around these days.

Manager - EMBO Publications

• Grade: 9, 10 or 11 depending on experience and qualifications
• EMBL site: EMBO Heidelberg
• Commencing date: As soon as possible, after closing date

Job description: EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organization, publishes three high profile journals – The EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports and Molecular Systems Biology. The launch of a fourth journal – EMBO Molecular Medicine – is planned for early 2009. The position of Manager of Publications will fall vacant in the course of 2009. The successful applicant will take over the primary responsibility for the successful operation of all four journals. The role of the publications manager encompasses the overall strategic, scientific and financial management of all four EMBO publications and their editorial offices. EMBO publication policy will be developed together with the EMBO Director, the publications staff, the publishers of the journals, the EMBO publications committee and EMBO Council. Day-to-day responsibilities include liaison with the Senior or Executive academic editors of the journals, the Chair of the EMBO Publications committee, organisation of meetings of this committee and of the advisory editorial boards of the journals including preparation of documentation for and reports of the meetings of these bodies.

Qualifications and experience: The ideal candidate will have proven research track record, a thorough knowledge of molecular biology and broad interests in diverse areas of the life sciences. He/she should have extensive editorial experience and be familiar with trends in modern scientific publishing. A key requirement for the position is the ability to think critically about the wide range of strategic, scientific, financial and management issues required for the successful operation of high quality scientific journals. Fluent English is essential, as are good communication and organisational skills and the ability to provide leadership to the editorial teams.

Contract: An initial contract of 5 years will be offered to the successful candidate. This can be renewed, depending on circumstances at the time of review.

Closing date: 28 February 2009

Web page: http://www.embo.org

To apply, please email a cover letter, CV (in English) and contact information of three professional references quoting ref. no. W/08/096 in the subject line, to: application@embl.de
Personnel, EMBL, Postfach 10.2209, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany.

Fax: +49 6221 387555 E-mail: application@embl.de

Wanted: eLearning Content Developer

The EMBL-EBI’s Outreach and Training Team is looking for an eLearning content developer. The primary duties are to:

• Expand and consolidate the EBI’s range of eLearning materials. This will involve updating and maintaining existing content, as well as creating new content in a variety of formats.
• Create video-based tutorial and help-desk materials, and support others at the EBI who need to produce these materials. This may involve either storyboarding and working with others or the complete production process, depending on previous experience.
• Investigate ways to exploit electronic technologies, such as podcasting, to deliver timely and relevant information to the EBI’s users.
• Create synergies within the online community of bioinformatics trainers and trainees.
• Contribute to the team’s other outreach and training activities, both at the EBI and around the world. This will involve some international travel to conferences and consortium meetings.

The role will involve substantial initiative and will require extensive interactions with training and outreach representatives throughout the EBI.

This post requires at least a degree in the molecular life sciences most probably followed by PhD or other equivalent experience.The ideal candidate will have at least two years’ experience of generating multimedia content for scientific training purposes, and will have excellent writing and editing skills. (S)he will be capable of communicating complex scientific ideas to different target audiences, ranging from scientists to the general public. Experience in the use of computational biology databases and tools is highly desirable. The eLearning Content Developer will have worked in an international environment, either within academia or in a commercial setting and will be skilled at liaising with design and production teams both within and outside the EBI to achieve the desired end product.

Good knowledge of MS Office, email and internet applications is required. HTML editing and design skills are highly desirable but not essential. Familiarity with graphics and web-design packages such as Adobe Creative Suite is desirable but not essential. Awareness of the challenges involved in delivering multimedia content to different platforms and to areas with low bandwidth is highly desirable.In addition to being highly self-motivated, the ideal candidate will have excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to work well as a part of a team. A strong interest (ideally backed up by experience) in scientific elearning tools and methodologies is highly desirable. Ability to work to deadlines is essential, as is the ability to harness the creativity of others whilst ensuring that they keep to brief. Candidates with a desire to work in an international environment are encouraged to apply. Fluency in English is essential, and some familiarity with other European languages is extremely desirable.

An initial contract of 3 years will be offered to the successful candidate. This can be renewed, depending on circumstances at the time of review.

For further information please visit http://www.embl.org/ and http://www.ebi.ac.uk/

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation.

To apply, please email a cover letter, CV (in English) and contact information of three professional references quoting ref. no. ABSW/08/081/EBI in the subject line, to: applications@ebi.ac.uk.

ESF - Press Officer wanted!

Press Officer

The European Science Foundation (ESF) provides a platform for its Member Organizations to advance European research and explore new directions for research at the European level.

Established in 1974 as an independent non-governmental organisation, ESF currently serves 80 Member Organisations (Research Funding Agencies, Research Performing Organisations and Academies) across 30 countries.

Mission of the Position

The ESF is offering an exciting position with the opportunity for an experienced press officer to further develop media relations at the ESF.

The mission of this position is to provide ESF Member Organisations, the European Research Community in general, the policy makers, the media and society at large with effective communication and to develop and implement a plan for media relations to increase ESF’s international visibility as one of the major players in the European Research Area. This position requires an outgoing, enthousiastic and diplomatic profile to work closely with journalists, scientists and senior management both internally and externally. Good press writing and interviewing skills are a pre-requisite and an existing network of science journalists a bonus.


Position Responsibilities

This position will involve:

• Developing and implementing a plan/guidelines for media relations activities of ESF;
• Identifying and developing proactive media stories;
• Cultivating collaborative relationships with print and broad cast media;
• Networking with international journalists ;
• Pitching stories and securing longer lead placements in top media outlets;
• Writing and editing feature articles;
• Conducting podcast interviews
• Working with ESF scientists and management to write, format and distribute press releases
• Maintaining and further developing the Media Centre on the ESF website
• Handling the prompt reply to media enquiries ;
• Writing and editing all corporate material;
• Liaising with the freelance network and coordinating the work.

Profile and Competences required

The successful jobholder should demonstrate the following competences:

Specific competences

• Degree in communications or journalism and a minimum of 5 years experience in science journalism and communication ;
• A scientific background would be an asset;
• Proven experience of the media and how it works;
• An established network of journalists;
• Proven experience in writing science stories for a variety of media;
• Ability to create quality content in a fast-paced working environment, under pressure and to deliver to tight deadlines;
• Ability to recognise news value and to be proactive in taking action in promoting ESF activities;
• An understanding of how corporate communication fits into the wider objectives of an organisation;
• High standard of spoken and written English;
• Good working knowledge of MS Office systems and of electronic databases and Web sites (Typo 3).
  
  Inter-personal competences:
  
• Action-orientated, responsible and autonomous, creative and willing to take initiatives, an
• continuously improvement-minded;
• Strong inter-personal and excellent communication skills within a multi-national context, including discretion, diplomacy and tolerance;
• Good self organisational skills;
• Good presentational skills;
• Transparency in working and a team-orientated work ethic;
• Commitment to deliver on allocated tasks and respond in a timely manner to deadlines;
• Positive and constructive attitude;
• Capable of demonstrating the ESF’s values: Excellence, Openness, Responsiveness, Pan-European approach, Ethical Awareness and Human Values.
  
  Employment conditions
  
• This full-time position is offered for an 18 months contract, preferably starting as soon as possible, with the possibility of an extension.
• The place of work is Strasbourg, France and the job will involve a significant amount of travel.
• The salary level will be based on experience and qualifications of the successful candidate and will follow ESF terms and conditions.

Please send your application by 02 February 2009 to jobs@esf.org quoting the following reference identifier

PRESS OFF

• Interviews will be held in Strasbourg 20 February 2009.

ESF welcomes applications from disabled candidates. ESF premises are fully equiped for disabled access.

Further details at www.esf.org

Assistant Editor

An Assistant Editor is required to join a small energetic team producing a bi-monthly international journal on renewable energy and water resources development, and organizing annual conferences.

He/she will research and prepare news, help to sub-edit technical features, occasionally report from conferences, and assist with other related aspects of journal production, including proof reading and liaising with authors.

Necessary attributes: excellent standard of English; ability to tackle technical/scientific material and make it readable; good working knowledge of the usual publishing software; confidence to inter-act with readers and contributors by phone, face-to-face as well as by email.
Useful but not essential: qualification in, or aptitude for, civil, electrical or mechanical engineering; knowledge of a second language.

Salary will depend on previous experience.

• Please apply in writing, with a covering letter, CV, and examples of previous work, to: Alison Bartle, Director, Aqua-Media International Ltd, PO Box 285, Wallington, Surrey SM6 6AN.

Roy Greenslade on The Sun's Martian scoop

Roy Greenslade, grand old person of media commentators, has his take on the recent embargo brouhaha in The Guardian, How The Sun got its 'Life on Mars' world exclusive.

Greenslade adds little that we don't know, and doesn't even seem to have a view on the saga. He just wraps up with a parting observation that "His scoop has certainly stimulated controversy among the community of science journalists, in the States and in Britain. Some of them are clearly upset about Sutherland acting like a reporter while others are wondering whether he has a point about the passivity of a news-managed journalism."

Strangely for The Guardian, which usually gets swamped with readers' observations, the piece has attracted very few comments. One is certainly in line with the 'papers readership: "While Mr Sutherland deserves some credit for sleuthing around the embargo, Mr Greenslade misses the bigger issue: the sensationalistic, misleading way the results were published by The Sun."