Course Title: Storytelling and Science Communication

Course coordinator: Raffaella Mulas

Location: Department of Mathematics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Participants: 10 students across the Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD levels

Timing:  The course takes place in October–December 2025. 

Note: No EC are awarded for this course.

Funding: The course is funded through the VU Startpremie Grant awarded to Raffaella Mulas.

Goals and structure of the course

The main goal is to help students learn how to communicate science in a clear, personal, and engaging way. The course is highly interactive and ends with a live theater show, titled Science speaks: Stories that move minds. In this final show, each student has 7 minutes to share (without slides):

• A scientific topic in an engaging way,

• A historical note about science,

• A personal story about their journey in science,

• Or (even better) a mix of all of the above!

To prepare for the performance, students take part in several workshops and feedback sessions.

Please note: Students are expected to have a first complete draft of their story ready by November 20. This ensures they can benefit fully from the public speaking session and the feedback sessions, and prepare for the final performance.

After the Science speaks show, students will also be encouraged to bring their stories into schools and/or at outreach events, in collaboration with Nora – Center for Science Communication and Platform Wiskunde Nederland (the Dutch platform for coordination and promotion of mathematics) and in particular Nicos Starreveld.

See also:

• The full list of people involved in the course

• The course schedule

• The outcome (photos and reflections)