Science Communication

Entry requirements

A postgraduate certificate can usually be taken at any time after the completion of your bachelor's degree.

If your first language is not English you need to meet our English language requirements as follows: IELTS score of 6.5 in the academic module (with no individual band below 6.0); we also accept a number of other English language tests. Due to COVID-19, we currently accept Duolingo English Test (DET), IELTS Indicator Test, and TOEFL iBT Special home Edition.

Don’t meet the English language requirements? The University of Otago Language Centre English for Otago programme offers a pathway for Undergraduate and Postgraduate students to meet the English language requirements for undergraduate and postgraduate study.

Months of entry

February

Course content

The Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication (PGCertSciComm) caters for a range of students – those with no prior experience in science communication who want an introduction to the discipline as well as those who are already professional science communicators and have a desire to fill a skills gap or increase their understanding of the science of science communication.

The PGCertSciComm can be taken full-time in one semester, and is available through Distance Learning.

The University of Otago’s Centre for Science Communication, the home of story-telling and science, offers three endorsements in the PGCertSciComm:

• Creative Non-Fiction Writing in Science
• Science and Natural History Filmmaking
• Science in Society

Students who want to develop professional filmmaking skills should consider the MAppSc (Science and Natural History Filmmaking) or MSciComm (Science and Natural History Filmmaking).

Programme Requirements

Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication (PGCertSciComm) endorsed in Creative Non-Fiction Writing in Science

Three of:

• SCOM 402 The Craft of Storytelling
• SCOM 403 Science and Creative Non-Fiction Writing
• SCOM 404 Science Communication Internship
• SCOM 413 Digital Production for Science Communication

One other paper at 400-level may be substituted for one of the prescribed papers, with approval from the Director of the Centre for Science Communication.

Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication (PGCertSciComm) endorsed in Science and Natural History Filmmaking

• SCOM 405 Business of Filmmaking
• SCOM 411 The Techniques of Natural History and Science Filmmaking 1
• SCOM 412 The Techniques of Natural History and Science Filmmaking 2

One other paper at 400-level may be substituted for one of the prescribed papers, with approval from the Director of the Centre for Science Communication.

Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication (PGCertSciComm) endorsed in Science in Society

Three of:

• SCOM 404 Science Communication Internship
• SCOM 406 Science Exhibitions and Interpretation
• SCOM 408 Critical and Creative Thinking (not available)
• SCOM 409 Introduction to Science Communication

One other paper at 400-level may be substituted for one of the prescribed papers, with approval from the Director of the Centre for Science Communication.

Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication (PGCertSciComm) unendorsed option

Any three SCOM 400-level papers which do not satisfy the requirements for one of the other Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication endorsements.

One other paper at 400-level may be substituted for one of the prescribed papers, with approval from the Director of the Centre for Science Communication.

Information for international students

Otago offers students an unrivalled campus experience and a vibrant, social student culture. The majority of Otago’s 21,000 students live, work and play in Dunedin - New Zealand’s only true university city. Otago is home to over 3,000 students, from over 100 countries.

Fees and funding