Popularizing research and science with CNRS
Science at the heart of social issues
Whether we're talking about health, artificial intelligence or the human sciences, understanding scientific issues is essential to our society. Yet the subject is not always straightforward, and can be off-putting to the public.
The Ink Link is convinced that, with the right script and illustrations, it's possible to simplify complex subjects and make them exciting! That's what's at stake in the Enquêtes de Sciences project we're running with the CNRS.
Popularizing research and science
Séverine Alvain, a researcher at the CNRS, wanted to present the work of research laboratories in comics. The first step was to anticipate the distribution and target audience: if no one reads these popularizations, the impact will be nil!
To find a medium that would reach more than just fans of popular science, we partnered with Mâtin!, a comic book Instagram account from Editions Dargaud with a very large audience.
We then immersed ourselves in the lives of researchers, activating our neurons in a wide variety of interviews on pollen allergies, artificial intelligence, chloroplasts, the history of justice, chemo biology, and lots of new discoveries.
Creation for social networks
How to appeal and make people smile, while keeping the scientific messages rigorous? A “complex cases team” was created to act as a common thread between the different stories, meeting with researchers from different laboratories.
The social networking site summarizes the stories in… ten panels! This challenge meant dissecting each encounter with a laboratory into simpler notions accessible to the public.
The illustrator, Camille Burger, has added her own touch with her very dynamic and humorous style.
